Worcestershire Rapids skipper Daryl Mitchell says it is "important to learn from the mistakes we've made" after his side missed out on a fourth quarter-final appearance in five years in the NatWest T20 Blast.
The Rapids slim hopes of a last eight spot ended when they went down by 29 runs to Derbyshire Falcons at the 3aaa County Ground yesterday evening.
Worcestershire were the early pace-setters in the North Group despite the setback of overseas player Mitchell Santner breaking a finger in his first and only appearance in the competition.
But they faded during the second half of the campaign despite completing a double over local rivals Birmingham Bears.
Mitchell felt the Rapids lost too many early wickets during the powerplay overs and also conceded too many runs at the back-end of opponents innings.
He said: "It's disappointing that we failed to qualify because one of our major goals was to get in the top four and make the quarter-finals.
"We've lost some close games and I think as a group we've got to learn from the mistakes we've made.
"I think too often we've lost too many wickets early on. "We've got to find a way of utilising the powerplay and maybe only losing one or two wickets instead of three or four like we have.
"With the ball we've got to find better ways of bowling at the death. We've gone for too many runs at the back end."
Worcestershire were bowled out for 163 in reply to Derbyshire's 192-5.
Mitchell admitted: "I think they had 20 runs too many and it was always going to be a tough ask.
"We gave it a good go but lost too many wickets at crucial times."