Jehan Mubarak: It was too late

Wayamba skipper Jehan Mubarak agrees that by the time his side got its act together, the time had slipped through their fingers.

By Chandraboli Mitra
No matter whether a tournament's duration is long or short, there is some team or the other, who feels cheated and this time also the story isn't too different.

Although, Wayamba won their match against Victoria Bushrangers on Tuesday, they have failed to qualify for the next round as they had lost their first match against Delhi Daredevils.

"It is mixed emotions as we started to get our act together but having lost the earlier game, there wasn't much we could have done about it," said Wayamba captain Jehan Mubarak.

Wayamba managed to post a modest 118 for nine in their allotted 20 overs. Replying to which, Victoria Bushrangers could reach only 103 for four, losing by 15 runs.

With all three teams - Delhi Daredevils, Victoria Bushrangers and Wayamba placed at 2 points each, having won one and losing another, but on the basis of the run-rate, Wayamba found themselves out of the tournament.

"It is a short and crisp tournament and getting adapted to the conditions was the main thing. But in Twenty20 you don't have much time and by the time we could get into the rhythm as a unit, it was too late," said Mubarak.

When asked about whether two matches are too little for a team to show its real potential, he explained, "This is a tough situation and you can't have extended tournaments as the international window is too cramped and you have to fit a domestic tournament in this window itself."

On the other hand, Victoria Bushrangers' skipper Shane Harwood chose not to complain as his team advanced.

However, he said, "We are disappointed but relieved to go through. It was very difficult to score runs and even more difficult to chase runs. But once a batsman gets in, it is easier to score runs but none of us could do that.

"We knew our target that was needed for us to advance into the next round but we still wanted to play aggressively and try and win the match," concluded Harwood.