Essex Eagles are in action at Hove this evening where they face Sussex Sharks in the final NatWest T20 Blast group match.
The Eagles hopes of reaching the quarter-final stage of the competition took a setback when they were beaten by 11 runs when facing Kent last night.
Chris Silverwood’s men know they must beat Sussex and hope that other results go in their favour if they are to reach the last eight.
Five of the last six meetings between these sides have been won by the chasing team with three victories apiece whilst the Eagles have claimed wins in five of their last seven trips to Sussex including wins in their last two.
Batsman Varun Chopra scored a century against Kent but still finished on the losing side and that is the second time this season the unfortunate opener has reached three figures but ended the match unable to celebrate victory.
He and Dan Lawrence posted 118 from 8.2 overs against the Spitfires before being parted to give Essex the initiative but their efforts proved in vain.
“I felt the opening stand with Dan against Kent had put us into a winning position but then things just got away from us,” he said. “I think their bowlers worked out the wicket after the first 8 overs and kept the pressure of the required run-rate on us. To be fair they came back into the game really well.
“We have to get the two points down at Hove and hopefully other results will go our way and we can qualify. We just came up short against Kent but hopefully, we can bounce back against Sussex.”
Chris Silverwood has named a 14-man squad for tomorrow’s must win encounter and Adam Wheater misses out with a side strain. Young batsman Feroze Khushi comes into the squad after a string of impressive second team performances and is line to make his debut.
Essex Eagles squad:
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) Captain
James Foster (7) Wicket-keeper
Mohammad Amir (5)
Varun Chopra (6)
Simon Harmer (11)
Sam Cook (16)
Paul Walter (22)
Feroze Khushi (23)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Matt Dixon (30)
Jamie Porter (44)
Callum Taylor (67)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
