Mustafizur is a very special talent, says Sussex captain Wright

After Mustafizur Rahman served up a superb bowling show to steer Sussex Sharks to victory over Essex Eagle on his county debut, captain Luke Wright feels the youngster was worth the wait.

The 20-year-old put his guile on display to return with 4-23 as Sussex, who had been languishing at the bottom half of the South Group, earned a 24-run win at Chelmsford in the NatWest T20 Blast.

"It has taken some hard work to get Rahman here, and a lot of people have worked hard to make it happen. Now we can see why he was worth so much time and effort," Wright said after the game.

"He is a very special bowler. He has put in a performance straight away that was very special to watch."

Wright said they had tried to play Mustafizur's balls in before the match, maybe to get a feel of what they should be expecting. But the left-arm Bangladeshi pacer outfoxed them.

"It is so hard to pick what he is going to do. In the warm-up we were trying to work him out and we couldn't," the 31-year-old captain said.

"Credit to our keeper Craig Cachopa, who kept really well to him tonight - it is not easy when you've had no time to watch him before or to have faced him."

Mustafizur was supposed to join up with Sussex in early June. But he returned from the Indian Premier League with a hamstring injury towards the end of May. Sussex, however, did not give up and gave Mustafizur more time, but the delay stretched on.

It took him about a month to recover and visa issues delayed his arrival by about another two weeks.

But his remarkable display of seam bowling was surely inspiring for Sussex, who sealed only their second T20 Blast win in eight games.

"He got a flight yesterday so he's come straight in and bowled like that. We have a very special talent on our hands."

Sussex will take on Surrey in their next match on Friday. They match is set to begin at 11:30pm Bangladesh time.

The win lifted Sussex to fourth from seventh in the South Group. They now have 12 points from as many matches. Kent Spitfires, who are fifth, are level with them on points from as many matches but are behind on net run rate.

Gloucestershire lead the table with 19 points from 13 matches, while Glamorgan and Middlesex follow with 15 and 13 points, respectively, from 11 matches each.