It was not quite the way that Sussex wanted to retain their NatWest Pro40 title, but just over half an hour after they had lost to Worcestershire, Durham hit the winning runs against Somerset to give the Sharks the trophy.

Not that it could be presented to the champions as the thrilling finale to the match at Taunton meant that the trophy was still marooned in Bristol. ECB officials had strategically stationed it there in the hope it could be dispatched in good time either to Taunton or to Worcester, but the presentation will now take place on Friday at Hove at the county’s annual awards dinner.

The Taunton match was shown live on a giant television screen at New Road after Sussex had been bowled out, with their players watching the action from the dressing-room balcony. Every Durham run was loudly cheered by a couple of hundred Sussex supporters who had made the journey up from the South Coast and when Durham squeezed home, the Sussex players danced for joy for several minutes.

Sussex by the Sea was belted out first by the supporters and then by the players as they sprayed champagne over each other on the outfield. Mike Yardy, the Sussex captain, looked as relieved as he was delighted at winning a second one-day tournament this season, after the Twenty20 Cup triumph.

Having also been runners-up in the Friends Provident Trophy, Sussex have confirmed themselves as the pre-eminent one-day side in the country. “That last half-hour at Taunton was not great to watch,” Yardy said with a gasp.

“We just ran out of gas and didn’t turn up today at the end of a tough week. Relegation in the championship was like a slow death. But we’ve played some outstanding one-day cricket this year. A lot of different players have put their hands up. We got some momentum from our early FPT results, a lot of confidence from winning games. That’s a massive thing, momentum.”

On a used pitch offering turn, the Worcestershire spinners outbowled their Sussex counterparts. After giving his side a flyer in his last innings for the club, 33 off 22 balls, Steven Davies received a directive from the England management to fly to South Africa last night to cover as wicketkeeper for Matt Prior, of Sussex, who missed England’s match against the host team yesterday because of a virus.

Davies left immediately after the match for Heathrow airport, his father having rushed home to gather some belongings for him.

Worcestershire
*V S Solanki lbw b Smith 20
†S M Davies c Goodwin b Martin-Jenkins 33
S C Moore lbw b Yardy 24
M M Ali c Martin-Jenkins b Chawla 51
B F Smith lbw b Kirtley 36
D K H Mitchell not out 27
G J Batty c Yardy b Hamilton-Brown 9
G M Andrew not out 2
Extras (b 2, lb 4, w 6) 12
Total (6 wkts, 40 overs) 214
I D Fisher, C D Whelan and J D Shantry did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-48, 2-58, 3-105, 4-164, 5-179, 6-210.
Bowling: Kirtley 7-0-47-1; Martin-Jenkins 6-0-35-1; Smith 5-0-25-1; Chawla 8-0-35-1; Yardy 8-0-34-1; Hamilton-Brown 6-0-32-1.

Sussex
R J Hamilton-Brown c Solanki b Whelan 17
E C Joyce c Solanki b Fisher 16
J S Gatting b Andrew 3
M W Goodwin c and b Fisher 32
*M H Yardy run out 14
D R Smith c Moore b Batty 1
C D Nash c Ali b Mitchell 8
†A J Hodd c Mitchell b Batty 22
P P Chawla b Batty 32
R S C Martin-Jenkins not out 10
R J Kirtley c Mitchell b Fisher1
Extras (lb 6, w 3) 9
Total (34.5 overs) 165
Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-31, 3-56, 4-80, 5-85, 6-88, 7-106, 8-141, 9-155.
Bowling: Shantry 3-0-26-0; Andrew 4-0-18-1; Whelan 8-1-30-1; Fisher 5.5-0-18-3; Batty 8-0-45-3; Mitchell 4-0-15-1; Ali 2-0-7-0.
Umpires: N L Bainton and J F Steele.