Kolkata Knight Riders head coach Brendon McCullum has said that they have to find a way to keep their morale high after they suffered three consecutive defeats in IPL 2022. The KKR, after being set a gigantic target of 218, were bowled out for 210 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday (April 18).
After winning three of their opening four matches in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders seemed to have lost their mojo. They endured three defeats on the trot, all at Brabourne Stadium, with the latest coming off against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday (April 18). They were bowled out for 210 in 19.4 overs after coming to chase a mammoth target of 218.
Despite the huge target, Shreyas Iyer and Aaron Finch kept the KKR on the front foot by scoring at a brisk pace. While Finch scored 58 off 28 balls, Shreyas departed after scoring 85 of 51 balls. But one good over from Yuzvendra Chahal, where he did a hat-trick, changed the course of the match.
The KKR head coach Brendon McCullum was disappointed following his side’s latest defeat. The Kiwi said that they could have done better in the final four overs of the chase to make that happen, as things were in their control in the major parts of the innings.
“With four overs to go, we were in the driver’s seat but then some silly mistakes and not being able to handle pressure as well as we should have cost us the game,” McCullum said at the post-match conference.
Further, McCullum added that they have to keep their heads high to get back to the winning ways. “From our point of view, we’ve had three losses in a row and we’re going to have to find a way to keep our morale high which is so vitally important. There can be a tendency to run away from things when you haven’t got across the line in a couple of key games. We just have to keep pushing ourselves, make sure we stick together and stay composed. We’ve been there before and it’s going to test us again this time,” he added.
Following the setbacks, the KKR, led by Shreyas Iyer, slipped to sixth on the points table. They will next meet Gujarat Titans (GT) on Saturday (April 23) at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.
