Bopara relieved to secure superb win, but knows Steelbacks have to sharpen up
Ravi Bopara was delighted to help seal a Vitality Blast win for the Steelbacks on his debut for the club in Thursday night's tense final ball win over Derbyshire Falcons - but says there are a lot of things for him and his new team-mates to improve on.
Chasing the Falcons 162 for seven, former England all-rounder Bopara hit a superb 56 not out from 42 balls to guide his new team home in their opening North Group clash.
There were also crucial knocks from Ricard Vasconcelos (42) and fellow new boy Sikandar Raza (38), while Lewis McManus held his nerve to hit a four and single from the final two balls of the match to get the Steelbacks over the line.
But it was a little too close for comfort for a Northants side that had six players making their Blast debut for the club, and Bopara felt the fact it was a new team, allied to a sloppy fielding performance, made life harder than it should have been.
"We had six players making their debut and that's a lot the most I have ever seen in any side, so it was a great effort to win the game," said the former Essex and Sussex man.
"I think there were quite a lot of nerves out there to start with, which is normal with all the debuts and the first game of the tournament and stuff, but we have come through it.
"We were probably chasing a little bit too many on that wicket."
One of the reasons for that was, because of their slow over-rate, Northants had to bowl the final 18 balls of the Falcons innings with an extra man inside the fielding circle, and that is something Bopara knows cannot happen again.
He also felt there were a few too many basic errors in the outfield.
"I think it was after 17.2 overs we had to bring an extra fielder up, and I wouldn't say it was our best fielding display either," said Bopara.
"We leaked 10 or 12 in the field, and then probably an extra 10 or 12 with the extra man up, and that is a lot of runs as we thought it was a good 145 wicket in the end."
So, did he always feel in control when guiding his new team home to victory?
"No, not on that wicket," he said. "As a batter I don't think you ever felt in control, because it would just take one bowler to bowl a good over.
"The difference between the slower balls and quicker balls was so big because the wicket was soft, that it was hard to bat out there.
"It was a difficult challenge, and I think chasing 160 was way too many runs to go after, and Derbyshire fielded really well.
"They must have saved seven or eight runs just from their fielding, so in the end it was a great win.
"There was also the massive boundary on one side, hitting into the wind which was not easy, so it was tough."