GLOUCESTERSHIRE could not cap their big T20 Blast evening with victory as rain came down on the Brightside Ground in Bristol and Sussex Sharks managed to win a reduced overs clash.

The home county played under their state-of-the-art floodlights for the first time and were hoping to celebrate victory as Sussex posted 242-5 in their twenty overs.

In reply, Gloucestershire looked well on course to at least take the game to the wire when the rains came down. It meant that they were stuck on 83 for 1, off 7.3 overs.

The Duckworth-Lewis Method of scoring came into effect and, agonisgningly, the calculations left Gloucestershiire just one short of their required target.

Gloucestershire's T20 Blast captain Michael Klinger said; "We were trying to stay ahead of the Duckworth Lewis each over and we had managed to do that.

"But then we came off mid-way through an over. We were trying to say that it wasn't raining any harder than it had been ninty seconds earlier and that we wanted to stay.

"But I suppose the umpires have got a decision to make and they felt it was getting wetter. They made a call and we came off. It was a little confusing because we were working towards the Duckworth-Lewis total at the end of the over.

"It would have been a great game of cricket but it is sad the way it ended for us."

Having been asked to bat first, Sussex made a decent first of things with the bat. Chris Nash and Phil Salt put the host county under genuine pressure with 48 for the first wicket inside five overs.

When Nash was eventually bowled by Craig Miles for 30, Salt and Ben Brown added 14 for the second wicket in quickfire time before the former was caught by Miles off former Sussex left arm spinner Tom Smith, for 24.

Salt's ill advised attempted reverse sweep, brought Taylor to the wicket and the Kiwi looked in decent touch from the first ball he faced. He and Brown added 88 for the third wicket inside eight overs with Taylor particularly harsh on anything full outside the off stump.

When Brown was stumped by Cameron Bancroft, off the bowling of Benny Howell in the 14th over, for 43, Sussex were 150-3 with Taylor having already passed his half century off 28 balls.

Gloucestershire found it difficult to defend the short boundary to one side of the Bristol wicket and with Taylor and Matt Machan increasing the run rate, Sussex piled on the agony in the closing overs.

Machan perished, in the 18th over, but not before hitting 31 off just a dozen deliveries. Wicket keeper Craig Cachopa was caught by Hamish Marshall off the bowling of Miles, for 0, with the bowler rounding off a decent spell of 2-29 from four overs.

Still, Taylor was not to be undone and with Payne going for 27 in one over, the New Zealander closed in on his century. Unfortunately, for him, he fell seven runs short. However, the 32-year-old's unbeaten 93, off just 48 balls, helped Sussex to their highest ever T20 total, beating the 239 for 5 scored against Glamorgan in 2010. The innings included six penalty runs for slow over rate. By the time the rains came later on, those runs would prove valuable, for Sussex.

Taylor struck just four fours in his stay at the crease, but helped himself to eight sixes.

Gloucestershire lost Hamish Marshall for 12 at 14 for 1 in the second over of their response before captain Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain struck the ball with great accuracy, to all four corners. At one stage, they were ahead of the D/L rate and looked in a decent position to at least challenge for maximum spoils.

Sadly, for the home supporters, umpires Nick Cook and Rob Bailey took the sides off midway through the eighth over with Sussex ahead on the D/L method, by one run. With no further play possible, the victory points went back to Hove, if only just.