SUSSEX Sharks got their Vitality T20 Blast campaign off to a devastating start as David Wiese and Michael Burgess upstaged spin sensation Rashid Khan on his debut.

Wiese finished with 5-24 as Sharks strode to a 36-run win over Essex Eagles at Chelmsford.

All-rounder Wiese took three wickets in five balls in his fourth over to rip the heart out of the Eagles’ batting.

Overseas signing Khan, who only flew in on Tuesday, finished with 2-25 from his four overs and Jofra Archer 3-24 as the hosts were dismissed for 145.

Earlier Burgess and Laurie Evans smashed 81 in a six-and-a-half-over stand for the fourth wicket in Sharks’ 181-6 total.

Burgess, having his first T20 knock for Sussex, finished with five sixes in an explosive 23-ball 56, while Evans’s 61 took 45 balls.

Varun Chopra led the chase with 64 from 48 balls, including three sixes, but his exit sparked a late collapse with the last five wickets falling for two runs in eight balls.

Despite his five wickets, Wiese admitted: “It’s weird because I didn’t feel I bowled as well to get a five-fer, but sometimes in a match you get lucky and you execute your skills and it comes off.

“I was looking to close off the game and finish my spell on a high.

“My first over wasn’t very good and I was trying to pull it back after that.

“I just tried to get through the last over with minimum damage and give Jof [Archer] the chance to close out the game. Three wickets in the over wasn’t in my mind at all. But the fielders helped me.

“We’ve all seen what Jofra is capable of at the death, he can bowl a yorker at will. If you keep taking wickets in the middle overs then those coming in at the end don’t have any chance to set a tempo. Credit to all the bowlers tonight.

“I think there are definitely signs of a good attack there. I think we have all our bases covered even though we have two bowlers missing from that attack. CJ [Chris Jordan] is on national duty and hopefully Tymal [Mills] will be back soon. It’s going to be interesting when they’re back what team we’re going to put out. But I guess that’s a good headache to have as a coach.”

Of debutant Khan, Wiese said: “I saw him when he was a young 16-year-old kid in the World T20 in India in 2016, I played against him there and you could see there was something special about him then. You can see he just enjoys being out there, he has a smile on his face and enjoys the challenge. It’s great to have him with us and hopefully the boys can learn a lot from him.”