KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders coach Jacques Kallis defended his team’s bowlers despite the hammering they took in the IPL match against Gujarat Lions, saying one bad game does not make them poor.
KKR failed to defend a score of 187 against Gujarat with most of their bowlers leaking runs.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir’s ploy of picking Shakib Al Hasan did not work and the Bangladeshi spinner conceded 31 from his three overs while Sunil Narine gave away 42 from his four-over quota.
“We don’t become a bad bowling unit after just one game. We will have some good game plans in place. RCB are down in the table with just two wins from six, and they are looking for some form. Hopefully we will use that in our favour. We still have a lot of confidence,” Kallis said.
Kallis rued that the team could not post a 200-plus target for the Gujarat Lions.
“But I must say that they bowled well, especially in the last five overs, where we got only 46 runs. So yes, it was disappointing that we fell 10-15 runs short,” the South African said.
Suresh Raina led from the front with a match-winning 84 as Gujarat Lions returned to winning ways by handing KKR a big setback ahead of the Royal Challengers Bangalore fixture tomorrow.
“I still think we could have defended the score. It was certainly not our best bowling performance. We will have to recover and be up for RCB,” he said.
Defending a total at the Eden seems to be a problem and the legendary former South African all-rounder said, “It just seems to be a trend that sides chasing tend to win more. So I don’t think that’s an issue. We need to up our standards in all the departments, that’s how we see it.”
Raina made the difference in the chase and Kallis had some words of praise for the left-hander.
“Every player has got his place. Some can rotate strike, some can hit big. Raina is a good all-round player. I don’t think we bowled as well to him as we could have done and should have done,” he said. (AGENCIES)
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