Chris Cooke admitted Glamorgan had left themselves too much to do after they went down to a second Royal London One-Day Cup defeat to Sussex Sharks at Hove.

Despite a powerful innings of 62 from wicketkeeper Cooke, the Welsh county lost by 59 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis method on Tuesday.

It was Sussex’s first win in this year’s competition and came after

Stiaan van Zyl struck 96 from 88 deliveries after the south coast county opted to bat first.

They reached 292 for six from their allotment, a total that was lowered to 281 from 43 overs due to rain in Glamorgan’s reply.

It proved a total beyond them despite half-centuries from Cooke and captain Jacques Rudolph (51) as they were all out for 221 in 40 overs.

Cooke – who hit 80 against Sussex in a man-of-the-match winning performance last season – said: “It was a tough defeat to swallow.

“It was always going to be tricky to chase down just under 300 on that wicket after their batters played very well.

“With one short boundary, we were in with a shout but we lost a few wickets before the rain, then when there’s nothing to lose you can be a bit more fearless.

“I got a few out of the middle but it was always going to be tough.

“Mark Wallace’s gloves are big ones to fill, and with the cold weather and quick bowlers I’ve had to resort to another pair of inners (gloves), so a few sore fingers but it’s otherwise been ok.

“My back’s been alright (after an injury in 2016), I hope to carry on (keeping full-time) and I don’t see any reason why I can’t.”

 

Sussex 292 for 6 (van Zyl 96, Brown 60, de Lange 3-51) beat Glamorgan 221 (Cooke 62, Rudolph 51, Briggs 3-53) by 50 runs (DLS method)