FRIENDS PROVIDENT t20, Hove:
Gloucestershire 178-4 (20 ovs) beat Sussex 170-9 (20 ovs) by 8 runs
Match scorecard

James Franklin hit his highest-ever score in 48 games of Twenty20 cricket

Twenty20 holders Sussex crashed to their first defeat in this season's competition as they lost narrowly by eight runs at home to Gloucestershire.

James Franklin starred for the visitors with 90 off 50 balls, containing three sixes and 11 fours in his side's 178-4.

But, despite his fellow Kiwi Brendon McCullum's 46, Sussex ran out of steam.

Joe Gatting chipped in with a quick 30 not out, but the hosts fell short on 170-9 as their five-match South Group winning run came to an end.

Having not lost a Twenty20 match in over a year, Sussex missed the chance to set a new domestic record of 14 successive wins.

Without England one-day duo Luke Wright and skipper Michael Yardy, the South Group leaders blew hot and cold on a chilly night on the south coast.

The home side failed to cash in on two strokes of good fortune early in their reply when both home openers received a life from successive deliveries, McCullum and Matt Prior being out down by Hamish Marshall in successive balls.

McCullum made slightly more of his let-off, cracking seven fours and a six in his 28-ball cameo.

Earlier, Marshall had supported New Zealand team-mate Franklin in a contrasting, little-and-large second-wicket stand worth 91 in 63 balls.

Marshall made 37 in 33, but tall left-hander Franklin was the major aggressor, hitting the first six of the night onto a car bonnet and then lofting one in the next over to reach the 1,000-run milestone in Twenty20 matches.

Without once slogging, 29-year-old Franklin continued to make rapid progress, unfurling measured, textbook strokes, the last of which broke his bat as he dispatched a Chad Keegan slow-ball bouncer out of the park.

Gloucestershire's second win in five games improves their hopes of making the quarter-finals ahead of Friday night's trip to Taunton to play Somerset (1630 BST).

Sussex are back in action the same night at Hove with a home game against neighbours Hampshire (1730 BST).

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