‘He is a very special bowler’

Sussex skipper Luke Wright praised bowling superstar Mustafizur Rahman after he helped Sussex beat Essex at Chelmsford.

Sussex won by 24 runs with Rahman taking 4-23 as the home side was limited to 176-8 in response to Sussex’s 200-6.

Sussex captain Luke Wright said: ‘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. He is a very special bowler. He has put in a performance straight away that was very special to watch.

‘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. 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.

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

On the Taylor-Jordan run out, Wright said: ‘It was always going to be tough for Chris. With my captain’s hat on I was hoping he was going to give up his wicket. The run-out wasn’t his fault but once Ross was committed I wanted Ross in. But Chris showed his character. When you run someone out, especially someone who is a huge player, it is very easy to lose your head. But he has done a magnificent job and got us up to 300 brilliantly.

‘Chris has wanted to show us that he is a true all-rounder and he has done that tonight.’

Of Sussex’s chances of reaching the T20 quarter-finals, Wright added: ‘Had we lost tonight we knew it would have been all over. But we’re definitely still in with a chance. We have a huge game tomorrow night at the Oval against a very good team. If we can beat Surrey then it sets up a huge match against Glamorgan at Hove next week.’