Mushtaq Ahmed's wizardry spelt misery for Essex as they opened their Twenty20 Cup campaign with a humiliating nine wickets defeat against Sussex at Hove.

The veteran legspinner turned in the remarkable figures of five for 11 from just 21 deliveries as Ronnie Irani and his team were bowled out for 109 in the seventeenth over, and was then able to put his feet up and watch his county race to victory with 5.2 overs to spare.

It was a painful reminder that Mushtaq, 36, is still a tremendous force to be reckoned with as he bamboozled the middle and late order with his skill and variation.

The bowler, whose berth in the Pakistan Test side is now being filled by Essex's Danish Kaneria, did not appear on the scene until the 11th over when the visitors stood on 79 for three and nursing hopes of setting their opponents a reasonable challenge.

But those hopes were soon ended as Mushtaq sent Grant Flower, James Foster, Ryan ten Doeschate, Andre Adams and Kaneria scuttling to the pavilion while returning the best figures in the competition.

Yet earlier, Essex had overcome the loss of Will Jefferson in James Kirtley's opening over, to raise the 50 in the fifth over without further loss.

That was due to the efforts of skipper Ronnie Irani and James Middlebrook as they about the bowling with some fine attacking strokes.

Irani plundereds 34 from 18 deliveries, six of which he despatched to the boundary, while Middlebrook justified his elevation to number three in the order by scoring 29 at better than a run per ball.

But once Irani was bowled by Jason Lewry to end a stand of 53 in five overs, and Middlebrook holed out at long-on attacking seamer Luke Wright, things quickly went from bad to worse.

The arrival of Mushtaq resulted in a disintegration of the innings that was utterly embarrassing and must have left those Essex supporters who had made the trip wishing they had spent the day on the nearby beach.

Faced with such a easy target, Sussex wasted no time in putting their opponents out of their misery.

The tone was set by Matt Prior who struck five successive fours in Nick Thornicroft's only over, and the opener went on to collect three more boundaries in his unbeaten 66.