Arafat (left) took four wickets to give Kent the upper hand

Defending Twenty20 Cup champions Kent confirmed they intend to be in the mix for the lucrative Champions League with a dramatic win over Sussex.

The Spitfires finally secured victory off the penultimate ball to triumph by six wickets in Canterbury.

Captain Chris Adams was the mainstay of Sussex's 137 with a 37-ball 57.

Rob Key (34 off 29) and Joe Denly (50 off 57) gave Kent a fine start and, although Sussex hit back through Dwayne Smith, Azhar Mahmood saw Kent home.

Kent put Sussex in and were given a great start as the in-form Matthew Prior edged Yasir Arafat's first ball to leave the hosts 4-1.

Three balls later Luke Wright cut the same bowler to backwards point and it was left to Adams and new signing Smith to stabilise the visitors' innings.

Smith struck two sixes in his 22-ball 29 as Sussex accelerated while Adams helped himself to three maximums.

The last of the trio brought up his fifty but he fell next ball to leave the Sharks 111-5 in the 14th over, and they subsided to 137 all out, with the outstanding Arafat finishing with 4-17.

Key and Denly gave the Spitfires an excellent start, with Key in particular playing some fluent strokes as the openers put on 68.

Once Key had fallen to left-arm spinner Yardy, Denly began to play with more freedom, but Smith removed Martin van Jaarsveld and Justin Kemp to give Sussex some hope.

But Mahmood, with 19 runs off 10 balls, and Denly took the hosts to within sight of victory and although the opener fell with three balls remaining, four byes took Kent over the finishing line.