KKR coach Brendon McCullum slammed his team’s timid approach with the bat after they were scored just 84 in their 20 overs against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday. They lost the match in a one-sided contest against a team that has beaten them comprehensively in both games in IP 2020. KKR registered the lowest score batting first in this year’s IPL.
McCullum was seemingly frustrated with his team’s batting performance in this game and also in the tournament so far. He echoed the same sentiments in the post-match interview where he said that his batters lacked intent and also were not up to the mark on the given day.
Brendon McCullum Slams KKR’s Timid Approach With The Bat
Mccullum blamed the KKR batsmen’s timid approach with the bat. he further said that with four games remaining in the league stage, the destiny is in their hands as to how they make it to the final four from here.
“We are still fourth in the tournament, which is very fortunate for us. The destiny is still in our hands. We have to tidy up some of the areas. It’s just that we were very timid in our approach. That’s a bit frustrating because we spoke at length before the game about trying to be positive and show some strong intent. If you are defending 84, you win one out of 150 games. Tonight wasn’t good enough from the batting point of view.”
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Brendon McCullum also spoke about KKR’s lack of intent with the bat in this game. He said that the Kolkata Knight Riders batters lacked the much-needed intent at the top which was crucial in this game.
“Before the game we spoke about showing some intent especially at the top of the order and, unfortunately, we lacked that tonight. So that’s something we have to address. We were very poor with bat in hand. You are not going to win too many games from 40 for 6” McCullum said.
The Kolkata Knight Riders coach hailed the RCB bowlers for bowing in good line and lengths, especially Mohammed Siraj. The tall and lanky fast bowler became the first fast bowler in IPL to bowl two consecutive maiden overs. He returned with figures of three for eight from his four overs.
“RCB bowled really well. Siraj bowled excellent lines and lengths. He was able to present the seam and ask a few questions to our batsmen. Questions which, in the past, we would have answered better than what we did tonight,” he pointed out.
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Brendon McCullum concluded by saying that they have a couple of days before they play their next game against Delhi Capitals at the same venue where they have been hammered in three games rather comprehensively.
“We have to bounce back because we have a game in a few days time. That will be the nature of the tournament as well with the conditions being challenging. We have to find a way to pick ourselves and find results when it’s challenging,” McCullum concluded saying.
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