Kent's overseas sensation Kagiso Rabada hopes his winning turn in the T20 clash with Sussex on Thursday night is the start of a Spitfires turnaround.

After five defeats in their opening seven South Group games in NatWest T20 Blast, Kent looked set to miss out on a return to the knockout stages for the second straight year.

However 2-31 on debut from the South African pace phenom, 21, helped Kent edge a 10-run success at Canterbury.

The debutant claimed: "It was a great experience. It was nice to play out here. It was nice to start off on a good note and the fact that we won is a great feeling because we haven't had such a great start to this tournament.

"Hopefully now we can get the ball rolling. Hopefully this starts a turnaround to be reckoned with."

With just his 10th ball in a Kent shirt Rabada bowled Chris Nash with an eye-catching yorker as he showcased his 90mph+ arsenal and he admitted: "The yorker is a ball I like to bowl. I thought I'd try one and it worked. It's been working for me (for South Africa) in the Caribbean too. It's been coming out nicely for me. Hopefully I can get more wickets."

Kent managed to defend a below-par 166-6 after some inspired bowling from Sussex, especialy England's Tymal Mills (1-15 off four) and Rabada added: "Those totals can go either way.

"If you bowl really well, like we did, we restricted them - got some early wickets, made it hard for them to score. We bowled very well. Our bowling was great and we took half-chances. It was a good performance."

Alex Blake's late 36 not out from 22 balls ultimately proved crucial in securing victory though he admitted: "I thought we were a bit short when we came off, I thought we probably needed 180-odd but the bowlers bowled very well and having Rabada in the team is a bonus.

"All the lads did well though and it was a good win."

He added: "I think I was trying to hit the ball a bit too hard at times - I took a while to get in but once I got in it was nice to get a few away at the end.

"They had two England internationals bowling at the death and it's not easy. It's tough but you have to back what you do and hope it comes off. Luckily for me it did."

Tom Latham's return to form continued with an attractive 48 from 32 balls as part of a record opening T20 stand of 97 for Kent against Sussex with Joe Denly.

The New Zealand international claimed: "It's obviously a very important win for us. We haven't played our best cricket over the past few games and it was a nice in a must-win game like to come out and perform like that. It was pleasing.

"We'd have liked a few more. Me and Joe set a reasonable platform but we lost crucial wickets at crucial times. Credit to the bowlers for the way they came out and bowled.

"They have Mills - he bowled exceptionally. We'd have liked more but at the end of the day it was a winning score.

"We took it too them, came hard and it rolled on through the game. It was nice to contribute, it would have been nicer to stick through until towards the end and contribute more but it was nice to build a partnership and it was important for us."

A crucial spell of 2-8 from two overs from Fabian Cowdrey stemmed the Sharks tide during the reply and saw him trap Kiwi dangerman Ross Taylor for 49.

Cowdrey admitted: "It was a hard-working win. They have a stellar bowling attack. Mills is different gravy and has come on leaps and bounds. We always had our work cut out at the death.

"We set a really good platform up top which probably won us the game in the end. We're very happy.

"We fielded very well. David Griffiths pulled off a match-winning catch to get rid of Luke Wright.

"(Taylor) was a very big wicket. It was fantastic to get that wicket then. He took the game away from us at Hove. It's nice to have that in my pocket."

He added: "Rabada is a young superstar. He's fantastic. He's great for the club and a good lad."