Sussex delivered a psychological blow ahead of the Friends Provident Trophy final with a narrow victory over Lord's opponents Hampshire in division one of the Pro40 League at Arundel.

Hampshire looked dead and buried when they slumped to 23 for four in pursuit of Sussex's total of 224 for nine but fought their way back thanks to Michael Carberry (55) and Dimitri Mascarenhas (76).

They needed 21 from the last two overs but finished four runs short after Mascarenhas became James Kirtley's fourth victim in the penultimate over.

The result means Sussex have won their last 12 limited-overs games and go top of the table with two wins from two.

It looked like they would wrap up victory in comprehensive fashion when Hampshire lost two wickets in the first two overs.

Michael Lumb went for just two when he top edged a short ball from Kirtley to give Rory Hamilton-Brown a diving catch and Jimmy Adams followed for a duck when he was lbw to Yasir Arafat in the next over.

Sean Ervine and Chris Benham followed soon afterwards before Liam Dawson put on 48 with Carberry to raise hopes.

Dawson was bowled by Kirtley for 24 but Hampshire's revival was continued by Carberry and Mascarenhas who put on a stand of 63.

Carberry was lbw reverse sweeping Mike Yardy but Dominic Cork then provided good support for Mascarenhas as they put on 67 together.

That pair looked set to clinch a dramatic win only for Mascarenhas to be caught on the long off boundary off the last ball of the 39th over.

That left Hampshire needing 16 from the final over and an edged four from Chris Tremlett and a no-ball from Arafat reduced that to five from the last two deliveries.

Cork was unable to get either away though to give Sussex victory by four runs.

Earlier, Sussex had squandered a promising start as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Ed Joyce had hit the first ball of the day for four and had put on 54 with Chris Nash when he was run out by a direct hit from Michael Carberry.

England all-rounder Luke Wright (9) and Nash (29) then followed in consecutive balls to leave Sussex wobbling at 68 for three.

Murray Goodwin and Yardy steadied the ship with a partnership of 61 for the fourth wicket until Goodwin picked out the fielder at midwicket.

Yardy was then run out for 31 and only a battling 28 from Rory Hamilton-Brown ensured they made it past 200.