"His shoulders were little bit sore" – KKR coach Brendon McCullum explains Andre Russell's bowling woes vs RCB

Andre Russell conceded 36 runs off his 2.2 overs versus RCB tonight [Credits: IPL]

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) head coach Brendon McCullum admitted that Andre Russell wasn’t fully fit to bowl the costly 13th over, adding that the little things didn’t go their way. The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) held their nerve to win by three wickets in the last over.

In the 12th over, all KKR fans held their breath as star all-rounder Russell dived on the boundary and started flexing his bowling shoulder. McCullum acknowledged that the fall led to soreness, meaning he could bowl just around the 120-kph mark in the next over.

“It was a fantastic game – it was quite trying conditions and ball certainly dominated bat. And in low-scoring games, there are going to be finite moments which determine success and failure. So I think we backed all of our players in those big moments. Unfotunately, it’s not always going to come off.

“Dre run around the boundary, dived and stopped that boundary for us which was fantastic. Unfortunately, he just picked up a little bit of a bump, which meant his shoulders were little bit sore. But Dre being Dre, he still wanted to try and get the job done. He wasn’t quite able to but, look, those are the things which happen in low-scoring games,” he said in response to a Sportskeeda query at the post-match press conference.

Shahbaz Ahmed hit two lusty sixes as 15 runs came off that 13th over and shifted the momentum towards RCB. Until then, the Shreyas Iyer-led side maintained a stranglehold on the Bangalore-based outfit as they reached 70 for 4 after 12 overs.

Knowing Russell’s tender shoulder, KKR could have availed the medium pace of Venkatesh Iyer – he bowled in the recent home season for India – or the off-spin of Nitish Rana. Venkatesh had to be summoned in the penultimate over, but it was a little too late. Echoing similar sentiments, the KKR chief hinted at utilizing Venkatesh the bowler in the upcoming games.

“In terms of Venkatesh Iyer, he’s certainly a bowling option for us. When you play that extra batter, you try to share your four overs between the likes of Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer, and even Nitish Rana. But yeah, as the tournament gets deeper, Venkatesh Iyer has got a huge role to play for us with the ball and it certainly helps us to try and balance our side,” he added.

With seven runs required off the final over, former KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik (14* off 7) smashed Russell for 10 runs off the first two balls to open RCB’s account in this IPL.

Earlier, no KKR batter could convert their start as the two-time champions were reduced to 101 for 9 in the 15th over. In the end, a 27-run last-wicket alliance between Umesh Yadav (18 off 12) and Varun Chakravarthy (10* off 16) dragged the Knights to 128.

“Little bit of luck and things could’ve been different” – Brendon McCullum on KKR’s aggressive batting

Andre Russell was KKR's highest scorer with 25 off 18 balls [Credits: IPL]

Even though the Knight Riders couldn’t really get going with the bat, one aspect that stood out was a healthy scoring rate. Although six batters were back in the shed halfway through the innings, there were 76 runs on the board.

Brendon McCullum labeled it as “intent”, saying the IPL team played freely with a long batting line-up in place. However, he opined that they could have done with a little bit of luck.

“I actually loved the intent, to be honest. I thought the intent was great. You backed the fact that you’re playing the extra batter and you are playing a long batting line-up. You don’t anticipate getting bowled out, obviously. I honestly felt like we didn’t have a lot of luck today – every time we sort of went for an aggressive option, we seemed to find a fielder or things didn’t quite go our way. So that can happen sometimes as well. But I want us to continue that intent, because that's what served this side so well last year.

“And the way we’ve set our team up at the auction and the players we’ve picked, it suits them as well. Sometimes, you are going to go a little bit too hard, but now we know where that line is. If we can add a little bit of craft with the wickets we’re coming up against, they’ll look to use the bouncer as our friend rather than our foe, then I think it gives us a good chance. But yeah, not quite enough runs tonight but I was pleased with the intent. Little bit luck and things could’ve been different,” the 40-year-old elaborated.

KKR will next play the Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Friday at the Wankhede. Meanwhile, Faf du Plessis and his boys will have a five-day break before locking horns with the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on April 5.

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