Kirtley and Adams celebrate Sussex's C&G Trophy victory

Former England seamer James Kirtley took five wickets as Sussex beat Lancashire by 15 runs at Lord's to win their first C&G Trophy for 20 years.

Sussex's 172 had looked well under par after some poor shot selection and two run outs during their innings.

But Kirtley claimed three wickets in seven balls and Mushtaq Ahmed struck twice to halt Lancashire's solid start.

Dominic Cork hit an unbeaten 35 but ran out of partners as Kirtley tied up victory with 16 balls to spare.

Interview: Sussex captain Chris Adams

Interview: Lancashire's Dominic Cork

Interview: Sussex spinner Mushtaq Ahmed

On a pitch that helped the bowlers throughout, Kirtley finished with 5-27 - with all his victims out lbw - to take the man of the match award.

As they began their chase, Lancashire's 12th victory in a Lord's finale seemed a formality.

This game belongs not only to Sussex, but also to James Kirtley Chris Adams Sussex reaction

Mal Loye, set to make his England one-day debut next week, demonstrated his side's confidence by slog-sweeping Kirtley for six.

Kirtley gained revenge with his next legal delivery, though, earning the first of three lbw dismissals in his opening spell.

Loye missed a delivery that jagged back off the seam, Nathan Astle was trapped in front with an inswinger and Stuart Law made his displeasure clear as he edged onto his pad.

TMS VIEW Well played Sussex, many teams would have given up after being in the position they were MT TMS: Have your say

Luke Wright had Luke Sutton caught hooking a short ball to midwicket in an expensive first spell.

But he did well in the late overs, making Kyle Hogg (28) his second victim after a gritty stand of 58 with Cork.

Mushtaq showed what Pakistan have been missing this summer as he bowled 10 consecutive overs of spin and guile, returning figures of 2-19.

Opener Mark Chilton was stumped for 20 off the leg-spinner in the 23rd over and Glen Chapple's dismissal rewarded Sussex for putting a short-leg fielder in place in the 25th.

Kirtley took his first three wickets in seven balls

Sussex captain Chris Adams admitted he would have bowled first had he won the toss after a 15-minute delay because of morning rain, with early movement on offer in the air and off the pitch.

The Sharks chances took an immediate blow when Tom Smith made a diving stop at backward point and threw down the wicket to run out Richard Montgomerie.

But irresponsibility on the part of the Sharks batsmen prevented them from rebuilding effectively from there.

Matt Prior flashed three boundaries, including a lofted drive, before spooning a catch off Hogg high in the air to mid-on.

Adams survived two run out chances before Mahmood joined the attack after 12 overs and gained some extra bounce with his second delivery to have him caught at slip.

We felt confident of getting that total so we're bitterly disappointed we've not made it Mark Chilton Lancashire reaction

Murray Goodwin cut a ball that was too short from Chapple and Carl Hopkinson was run out by Cork at mid-off as he failed to ground his bat.

Robin Martin-Jenkins was unlucky to be dismissed, though, as TV replays showed Chapple's delivery caught bat, rather than, bat as it crept through the gate.

Sussex threatened to bounce back as England call-up Michael Yardy (37) and Pakistani Yasir Arafat (37) shared a seventh-wicket partnership of 56.

Mahmood returned to quell the revival as Arafat feathered a catch behind as he attempted to cut a slower ball and eventually finished with 3-16.

And Kartik justified his selection ahead of veteran Gary Keedy by trapping Yardy lbw to end a 96-ball vigil, then having Wright stumped after a dashing run-a-ball 19.