Sussex clinch English Twenty20 title

LONDON (AFP) - Sussex won the English Twenty20 Cup for the first time on Saturday when they defeated Somerset by 63 runs in the final at Edgbaston. West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Smith hammered 59 off only 26 deliveries with seven fours and three sixes to help Sussex reach 172 for seven after being put into bat. Somerset never seriously threatened to achieve the highest ever score to win a domestic Twenty20 final once Marcus Trescothick had been dismissed for 33. But they have the consolation of qualifying with Sussex for the Champions League, which takes place in India in October, where a six million dollar jackpot awaits the winners.Sussex skipper Michael Yardy was looking forward to the Champions League. "When you come to finals day, the Champions League is in the back of your mind. You want to win the competition," he said. "But now we have got there, it is something to really look forward to, against top players, and we want to do ourselves justice." Somerset captain Justin Langer was disappointed with his side's performance. "We didn't play very well all round," said the former Australian Test batsman. "We didn't bowl as well as we did in the first game (Somerset beat Kent by seven wickets in the earlier semi-finals) and they probably got a few too many runs. It was a bit different (batting) under lights because the ball spun a bit."

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