Kent Spitfires produced a battling bowling display to edge a vital 10-run win against Sussex Sharks at Canterbury in NatWest T20 Blast on Thursday night.

A star-studded affair in South Group saw both sides fielding a swathe of international talent but it was Kent debutant Kagiso Rabada that made an immediate impact to help ensure the victory Kent needed to keep their quarter-final hopes alive.

The South African claimed 2-31 and showed his 90mph+ credentials, though it was a crucial turn of 2-8 from two overs, including the scalp of dangerman Ross Taylor (49) from Fabian Cowdrey that turned the tide in Kent's favour in a game which saw the Sharks reply twice interrupted by bright sunshine which impaired the batsmen's vision.

England's Tymal Mills had earlier been in imperious form to help restrict Kent to a total of 166-6 which looked a tad below par, despite a record opening stand for Kent against Sussex of 97 by Joe Denly and, in just his third T20 appearance for Kent,Tom Latham

Despite some frightening early pace bowling from Mills the pair amassed 97 in 11.4 overs before Denly sliced one off Chris Nash (1-15 off 3) to Kiwi Taylor on the cover boundary for a lively 44 from 40 balls which featured four fours and a six.

Sam Northeast followed just four balls later when he slapped Ajmal Shahzad straight to Chris Jordan on the long-on boundary and three balls after that Latham flicked one off his hip to Sri Lankan debutant Nuwan Kulasekara off Shazad to depart for 48 from just 34 balls which saw him clear the ropes twice and leave Kent 101-3.

Sam Billings showed off some of his IPL partypieces and made 22 from 12 balls - though he benefited from an ugly drop from Philip Salt - before mistiming a full-toss down the throat of Matt Machan off Kulasekara.

Darren Stevens caught the bug and sent Jordan straight to Kulasekara on the long-on boundary to leave the hosts on 143-5 with 13 balls left while Fabian Cowdrey (0) was bowled by Mills whose change of pace had proved impossible to pick.

He finished with 1-15 from his four overs and conceded just one boundary, which came from his 22nd delivery.

Kent were indebted to Alex Blake for guiding them past 150 and eventually to 166-6 though he ended the game with Rabada at the other end, he finished with an unbeaten 36 from 22 balls which featured four fours and a six, having begun with nine from the first 10 he faced.

Only eight balls of the reply had been bowled when the game was halted by bright sunshine coming low over the Woolley Stand which led to a 17-minute delay.

When play resumed it didn't take long for Rabada to make an impression as he produced a superb inswinging yorker to rearrange Nash's stumps for six and leave the visitors on 20-1.

Another 10-minute interruption for sun glare from the Sky Sports gantry was followed by another wicket for the debutant as his 90mph pace was glanced into the sky for the scrambing, zig-zagging David Griffiths to take a stunning catch on the dive over his shoulder at deep third man to make it 35-2 from five overs.

Taylor and Salt steadied the ship and guided the visitors to 67-2 from 10 overs, leaving them 100 to find from the final 10.

It was at that point that Taylor tucked into Darren Stevens taking 14 from the first three balls of the over to reach 35* from 19 balls.

He and Salt had put on 60 for the third wicket in eight overs when Salt hoiked Fabian Cowdrey straight to Denly on the rope to depart for 18.

At 95-3 the visitors still needed 72 from the final seven overs but when Cowdrey skidded one on to trap Taylor for 49 from 32 balls to start his next over the game swung in Kent's favour and the Kent man was on a hat-trick.

The chance was not taken but with five overs remaining the Sharks were 61 short.

Matt Machan (30 not out) skied one off Griffiths only for Denly to over-run and miss the chance of a catch, with Machan making him pay with a huge pulled six from the next ball as the asking came down to 47 from the final four overs.

A tight over from Claydon meant that rose to 40 from 18 balls and 23 from the final six balls, delivered by Rabada, though not without conceding 13 runs, as Kent got their campaign back on track before Friday night's game at Essex (7pm).