Brendon McCullum urged his Rajputs side to forget about their humbling at the hands of Maratha Arabians in the T10 League, telling them to “turn the page” quickly.
Rajputs opened this year’s T10 League in spectacular fashion last week, when Mohammed Shahzad inspired a 10-wicket win over Sindhis with six overs to spare.
They were handed a taste of their own medicine as they were summarily thrashed by the Arabians in almost identical fashion – a 10-wicket winning margin, with five overs left.
They managed just 63 for seven from their 10 overs, the lowest score so far in the T10 League. The chase proved an easy task for Hazratullah Zazai and Alex Hales, the powerful opening pair for the Arabians.
McCullum, who, along with his opening partner Shahzad, struggled to fire, said there was no time for recriminations, and that his side needed to turn their attention to Wednesday’s fixture with Punjabi Legends.
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“We were quite a lot [of runs] short, and that can happen in these games,” McCullum, the former New Zealand captain, said.
“We never got anything going with the bat. My message to the boys would be to turn the page on that one as quickly as possible and focus on [Wednesday’s game].”
Rashid Khan underlined his status as the world’s foremost short-form bowler, as he went for just seven from his two overs for Maratha.
Richard Gleeson, the English pace-bowler, was named man of the match for his two for nine, while James Faulkner took two for 13 and had a direct-hit run out.
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“It happens so fast, it is vital to get off to a good start and then you have momentum going for the next seven overs,” Faulkner said.
“It worked well today. We’ve had other games where it hasn’t and we’ve been bowled out for under a hundred. It was good to be on the right side of it tonight.
“Every team has had their issues with consistency. There are some world-class players here who can take a game away from their opposition, whether it be with bat or ball.
“It is exciting. Every single ball has so much pressure. We took wickets consistently and took them early, so it really halted the batsmen.”
