The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) can blame a pitcher shortage for their five-wicket loss to the Punjab Kings (PBKS). Brendon McCullum claimed that batter Tim Seifert’s inclusion was based on his “gut feeling,”. While all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will be considered for the following match.
KKR is battling to bridge the gap between a lethal finisher with the bat and a decent fifth bowling option. With star all-rounder Andre Russell out with a hamstring injury. Eoin Morgan had to rely on part-timers Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana to deliver four overs. As a result of his choice to grant Seifert his IPL cap.
Brendon McCullum reasoned that the batting line-up shuffle had pushed Seifert down the order. Reducing his chances of capitalizing on the opportunity. However, he stated that Shakib, the world’s No. 2 T20I all-rounder, would be considered for Sunday’s match.
“Shakib’s certainly available as well, we’ve got a lot of squad options. And you make calls when you are a coach. Which you sort of got to go on a little bit of gut feel at times as well. Tim Seifert has been exceptional in the Caribbean. Where he’s been playing for TKR in the CPL, and he did really well in the middle-order. We just felt like we need to strengthen that middle-order a little bit. And because we got off to a good start, it meant we shuffled Tim down a little bit and behind Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik. he said
“But yeah, Shakib’s always in the mix when you talk selection because of his skillsets. Ability to bowl left-arm orthodox and also his batting. Probably send him a bit more in the top 3 as a batter. But that certainly doesn’t mean he can’t slot in somewhere as well. So he’ll be in the mix for the game for sure when it comes to discussions on selection,” the KKR chief said
KL Rahul
PBKS skipper KL Rahul (67 off 55) performed the sheet anchor position. To inspire his side to a last-over finish as they chased 166 for victory KKR and PBKS are presently equal on 10 points, with the Kolkata franchise in fourth place thanks to a higher net run rate (NRR).
The scales were strongly stacked in favor of PBKS with KL Rahul at the crease until the penultimate over. Brendon McCullum, on the other hand, revealed that he thought KKR would defend 15 off the final two overs.
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