Coetzer knows where the game was lost

In the Natwest t20 Blast contest at Edgbaston, the visitors were reduced to 18-3 and 37-4 and as a result they were only able to muster up 133-7 from their 20 overs.

This proved to be no problem for the hosts in their reply as they romped home by eight wicvkets with four overs in hand.

And captain Coetzer commented: “Losing three wickets in the first six didn’t help us that’s for sure.

“Fair play to Warwickshire they bowled well early on but it meant we couldn’t build a platform so we could go for it later on. It was hard from that position.”

That they had any kind of score to bowl at was down to Steven Crook, who made a fine unbeaten 51, and Ben Duckett who provided good support in a sixth wicket stand of 47.

Coetzer added: “Ben (Duckett) has been brilliant for us in this tournament and it was great to see Steve (Crook) back in the runs and doing what we know he can.”

In the second half of the game, none of the Steelbacks’ attack could make any impression as the Bears’ top order had it easy.

“I guess it could have gone another way and things could have been different (with the bowling changes),” Coetzer said.

“We tried to squeeze and keep fielders up and try to get an early wicket but once they got off to a flyer we were always playing catch up and we needed a cluster of wickets to get us back in the game.”

Next up is a trip to Old Trafford tomorrow for a clash against Lancashire Lightning and Coetzer is well aware of the importance of that encounter.

He said: “It’s a big game for us tomorrow and we need to turn up and perform.

“We need a result or it’s going to start getting difficult for us but we’ll go into the game and back ourselves because if we don’t this is a format that can get on top of you very quickly.”