Hall: Steelbacks didn't struggle with nerves
Andrew Hall refused to blame nerves for his side's exit from the Friends Provident t20 at Taunton last night.
The Steelbacks slumped to a seven-wicket reverse at the hands of an efficient Somerset side.
But, as good as the hosts were, the Steelbacks were their own worst enemies as they contrived three run outs in a batting display that barely got out of first gear.
But Hall didn't think that it was the occasion that got to his players, saying: "I don't think it was nerves.
"I haven't spoken to the guys about it but I can't see it as being nerves.
"The guys have played in the quarter-finals and semi-finals so I'm not exactly sure what it was."
What was certain was that making an awful start surrendered any advantage that winning the toss gave the visitors, a fact that Hall acknowledged.
He added: "It was a terrible start. It isn't ideal when you get two of your top three guys run out in the first couple of overs of the game.
"After that we had to play catch up and we made it very difficult.
"We've always got off to great starts. That's been the main thing in Twenty20 cricket. If you get off to good starts you can use that momentum through the middle and transfer it to the back. We never really got started.
"Pedro (Stephen Peters) and myself said to ourselves that we couldn't afford to do anything silly to lose wickets because we need to give ourselves something at the back end to have a launching pad."
Although their batting woes were, in the main, self-inflicted, Hall had little in the way of praise for the 22 yards the contest was played on.
He continued: "There was nothing else to do but bat first on it because I don't think it was an ideal pitch for a quarter-final.
"That's the fifth match that they've played on it and you would have thought the occasion warranted a decent new track but that's their decision not ours."
As for what is left for the Steelbacks, Hall admitted that he would settle for promotion to the top tier of the Championship now that Twenty 20 success has gone.
"Any one of the two you would like to do," he added.
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