Middlesex coach Richard Scott hailed his side after a third successive win in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Opener Paul Stirling hit 116 off 129 balls despite injury and shared a 198-run stand with Nick Gubbins (86) to lay the foundations for a total of 288-4 against Sussex at Hove.

And Ravi Patel (4-58), Steve Finn (3-29) and Nathan Sowter (3-43) combined to share the wickets as the home side were dismissed for 214 in 44 overs in reply to the delight of Scott.

He said: “After losing our first game in this competition (against Essex at Radlett) and then win the next three has been an excellent effort, I’m very proud of all the guys.

“I thought 288 on that pitch was worth 340-350 on a faster wicket and Paul Stirling and Nick Gubbins assessed the conditions and set things up for us.

“‘Stirlo’ has a slight thigh strain which we didn’t want to risk in the field. I have never seen him bat better to be honest, to see the way he crafted that innings was magnificent.

“We have lacked consistency in the past but we’ve played the same side in the last three games which helps.”

Middlesex are back on the road on Sunday to take on Somerset, who were playing at Essex on Friday night.

But Scott added: “We won’t look too far ahead of Sunday’s game at Taunton against Somerset, which will be very difficult, but to win three on the bounce in this competition for the first time since 2013 is excellent.”