Steelbacks happy to 'shut up a few haters' as they see off the Falcons

Lewis McManus helped the Steelbacks over the line

Saif Zaib says the Steelbacks were happy to ‘shut up a few haters’ by beating Derbyshire Falcons on Monday.

John Sadler’s side had lost their opening two Vitality T20 Blast matches, attracting some criticism.

But they got their campaign up and running with a six-wicket success at Derbyshire.

And Zaif, who starred with the bat as he hit an unbeaten 37 from 22 balls, said: "In the last couple of games we haven't gelled well as a team but our bowling performance here was outstanding.

"Batting towards the end, it was nice to get us over the line and get the first win on the board.

"Hopefully we can take that momentum into the next few games.

"It was a good fielding performance, good bowling and we finished it off with the bat quite comfortably, and as I said, it's nice to get over the line."

On recent criticism on social media, Zaib said: "It is quite annoying and we haven't played very well as a team so it's nice to shut up a few haters I guess.

"I think there were quite a few people expecting us to lose again which is a bit of a shame but all we can do is perform the best we can and hopefully we can turn those haters into fans."

Derbyshire posted 151 for six, but it was nowhere near enough as the Falcons fell to defeat.

Derbyshire head of cricket Mickey Arthur said: “It's not good enough, simple as that.

"We haven't put a performance together yet, which is really disappointing.

"We haven't put a complete performance together; when we've batted well, we haven't bowled well, and vice-versa.

"Today, 150 - you're not defending that.

"As a bowling unit you've got to do everything 100 per cent right and we've got to be unbelievable in the field in order to get something out of the game.

"You just have to keep the guys believing and there are some very good players in that dressing room.

"You have to be brutally honest and tell them what the situation is because you can't sugarcoat it, but we've got to keep believing and make sure they get the job done.

"We are a very tight unit and a unit that works well together and you can't fault effort and work rate. The boys are putting it in massively so it just takes a spark. It needs somebody just to spark us into action."