After Super Over loss to Diamond Eagles brought their Champions League campaign to a screeching halt, Sussex Sharks skipper Michael Yardy felt his side choked due to lack of experience in playing Eliminators.
After posting a modest 119 for seven on the board, Sussex spinners did a tremendous job to pull their side back into the match, especially after Rilee Rousouw's flamboyant 62-ball 65.
But as luck would have stored for them, riding on a six from Rossouw, Eagles scored nine runs in the Super Over before Cornelius de Villiers scalped back-to-back wickets to throw Sussex out of the tournament.
"It is very disappointing to exit in the first stage of the tournament but we played well today. We knew if we could put them under pressure in the middle and get wickets, we can always claw back into the match," Yardy said after the Group B match.
"But we had never been experienced a Super Over before. It is a little bit of lottery but also a great concept for the spectators.
We didn't have any plan for it. It didn't cross my mind till the last ball," he added.
Yardy also praised young Rossouw for his match-winning innings and said with Eagles needing 12 runs for victory in the final over, medium pacer Yasir Arafat was an automatic choice for him considering his experience of bowling at death.
"He (Rossouw) played fantastic cricket. He struck the ball beautifully in this wicket.
"And Arafat has been brilliant in the death overs for us in domestic cricket. Nine out of 10 times he will defend in the last over," Yardy said.
Meanwhile, his counterpart Boeta Dippenaar said Eagles' experience in handling Super Over came handy for his side in the do-or-die encounter.
"We have some experience of Super Overs during our domestic Twenty20 final and that made some difference. But it always very difficult to walk and just start hitting the ball," Dippenaar said.
He, however, was of the view that after the great start provided by Rossouw and Adrian McLaren in the Powerplay, Super Over equation should never had come into their mind.
"The position we were in after first six overs, the match should not have gone into the Super Over. But the wicket was getting very difficult to score runs. It was getting slower and lower and even Rilee (Rossouw) was also struggling to time the ball," Dippenaar said.
"Today the wicket was better than the first game but as the match went on it became slower and lower and it became difficult to play the spinners. We also gave Sussex the chance to come back into the match," Dippenaar said.
Man-of-the-match Rossouw also echoed his captain's felling, saying, "We should not have had the Super Over after the good start but credit must go to the Sussex bowlers.
"But it is always a very nice feeling to score runs in these kind of wickets. It gave me confidence for the remaining matches," said the 20-year-old who has already been signed up by Royal Challengers Bangalore for the third edition of the Indian Premier League.
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