Colin Munro believes Worcestershire can take a lot of encouragement from their performances in the opening trio of Vitality Blast games and insisted: “we are doing a lot of things right.”
The New Zealand batter followed up his 66 against Notts Outlaws with another hard-hitting 53 in the narrow defeat to Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford.
Munro has been impressed already with youngsters such as spinner Josh Baker and batter Jack Haynes in his few days since returning to the Rapids for a third spell and says the future is bright at New Road.
He said: “It’s probably been three of the toughest games, all away against three really, really strong experienced teams.
“For us to have been in the hunt in all three games is promising.
“Not shying away from it, but we’ve got quite a young and inexperienced team, so if we can learn from these three games and put ourselves in positions like this more and more often, we will come out the right side.
“We are doing a lot of things right. It sounds cheesy, but we are, and we just need a little bit of luck here and there.
“A lot has changed since I was last here. It is pretty cool to see the lads from then growing up, and even in the last couple of games, those young boys like Jack Haynes have come through.
“Young Josh Baker is also a really good find, and he is going to be a terrific bowler.
“In the T20 format, he gets a little bit of extra bounce, knows what he wants to try and achieve and with more bowling, he is going to execute it even better.
“The club is in a really good position and, in a couple of years’ time, it will be a really strong team.”
The Rapids were on top with the ball, with Pat Brown picking up three wickets until Tim David hit 60 off 25 balls.
They were also well placed with the bat, requiring 33 off three overs until Richard Gleeson dismissed Munro and Jake Libby in the 18th over after a partnership of 79 in 8.5 overs.
Munro said: “Today, one player (Tim David) took it away from us, and that’s what can happen in T20 cricket. He is probably one of the best batters in the world at the moment.
“I also thought we were right in it at the end there, and then Gleeson bowled a really good 18th over and shut the game out.
“Maybe I could have taken it one over earlier in trying to go after the bowling, but the idea was to take it deep and give ourselves a chance, and we did that.
“Thirty three off 18 balls, it’s two or three boundaries, and then it’s a run a ball. We put ourselves in a good position, but, as I said, Gleeson bowled a really good over.”
Munro only landed in England on Thursday morning but put any concerns about jet lag behind him with two excellent knocks.
He said: “I was concerned about the first game. I hadn’t batted on grass for three and a half months and had a few throw downs beforehand and felt a bit rusty but then got in.
“It’s nice to put some contributions on the board, and hopefully, the next one can be a winning one for the team.”
