Date-stamped : 11 Jul97 - 14:22 NatWest Trophy: Greenfield`s 129 gives Sussex day in the sun By Simon Hughes at Hove Sussex (286-3) bt Lancashire (283-6) by 7 wkts ONE of the England`s most unheralded cricketers, Keith Green- field, scored 129 to lead unfancied Sussex to an emphatic seven- wick- et victory over the NatWest Trophy holders at Hove. The bookmakers made post-revolution Sussex 66-1 outsiders to win the cup so Greenfield, who joined the county on a YTS scheme and took nine years to win his county cap, could make some opti- mistic punter a small fortune if he can subsequently repeat the dose. Lancashire, winners of both knockout competitions a year ago but who failed to qualify from their Benson and Hedges group this sea- son, have been roundly knocked off their one-day perch. Well, it is about time they gave someone else a chance. Sussex`s need is greater than theirs. The twin-titled Tony Pigott, chief executive and director of cricket, said as much in ad- vance of his committee`s "awayday" on Friday. There, they will discuss future plans for sponsorship, the ground and playing staff among oth- er things, but "the bottom line is success on the field," he said. "This was a fantastic team effort to pull ourselves up after the manner of our last two defeats." The match, on a straw-coloured pitch no bowler would relish, featured three substantial innings and a number of dropped catches, possibly the most crucial of which was John Craw- ley`s miss at extra cover when Greenfield was on 81. More pertinently, the Sussex total at the time was 134 for two, less than half the target (Lancashire having reached 283 for six), which emphasised both Greenfield`s dominance of their innings and the crucial state of the match. He continued to cuff wide bowling through the covers with a hearty thwack, and worked straighter balls past midwicket. He plundered the off spin of Gary Yates and was eventually bowled with only 51 wanted. The statuesque Mark Newell and Neil Lenham picked that off in six overs. Lancashire began badly, on and off the field. Neil Fairbrother remained in the pavilion after failing a fitness test on his thigh and having elected to bat first, their openers soon joined him. Jason Gallian touched James Kirtley`s fourth ball, a good outswinger, to Greenfield at first slip, and Mike Atherton, not at his most fluent, edged what might be termed a footless drive to the same place. Graham Lloyd confidently shouldered arms to Mark Robinson`s first ball and lost his off stump, and Andrew Flintoff should have been taken at first slip before he was snaffled at second two balls later, making the visitors 38 for four. Vasbert Drakes, one of the country`s least familiar overseas players, was their chief tormentor, swinging the ball past ev- eryone`s edge to finish with figures of 12-4-35-2. Crawley was already gorging himself on some leg stump offer- ings from Kirtley when his captain, Mike Watkinson, began tonking past or over cover. One such blow took the total past 80. Watkinson had a charmed life until taken by mid-off at the third attempt but Crawley batted flawlessly, hitting every- thing along the ground with expert timing, while Ian Austin bul- lied the medium pacers through the offside, and scurried between the wickets. A lusty straight six took Austin to within 12 of his partner, despite giving him 27 overs head start, and after Crawley had reached a sublime hundred, Austin, now crimson in the face, had one ball to complete his. He could only heave it down deep square leg`s throat. They looked to have posted a winning score but Austin`s over- exertion with the bat, the absence of Wasim Akram and the with- drawal of Glenn Chapple mid spell with a stomach problem made their Goliath attack for once slayable. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)