David Capel was left to rue the fine margins of the 20-over game after watching his Steelbacks side go down by five wickets to Somerset.
In a tight game on a turgid Taunton surface, A pair of boundaries from Jos Buttler off the fifth and sixth deliveries of the penultimate over, which was bowled by Chaminda Vaas, gave the hosts the late impetus necessary to get over the winning line.
And heads coach Capel believes that 10 extra runs in the visitors’ innings could have led to a different outcome..
He said: “Those boundaries made the difference.
“Jos Buttler played a high class innings but it showed that this is a game of very small margins. Chaminda wasn’t far from hitting the yorkers he was looking for but that is just how it goes.
“We were outstanding in the field, especially Rob Keogh who took two excellent catches, but we conceded six wides which also had an impact.”
Capel also pointed to the below average start that his charges made as being a crucial factor.
He added: “We didn’t get the start we needed and were 33-2 after the first six overs.
“From there you’re always pulling it back and to get to 150, which would’ve been a very good score, would’ve been a good effort.
“As it was we were 10-15 runs short which showed at the end.”
But Capel did save words of praise for David Willey and Cameron White.
Willey carved an unbeaten 30 from just 18 balls and then picked up a pair of wickets and White made his first mark in a maroon shirt with 47 at better than a run-a-ball and Capel was delighted with their contributions.
He said: “Getting a score will have done Cameron no harm at all and David played the kind of confident innings that we know he is capable of.
“They were two positive things to come out of the game but the bottom line is that we’re travelling up the motorway with no points which isn’t ideal.”