IPL 2020: Kolkata's McCullum slams team's intent vs Bangalore, asks batters to be creative

Kolkata head coach Brendon McCullum pinpointed at the lack of intent from the side for their loss as Bangalore completed a clinical 8-wicket win on Wednesday at Abu Dhabi, placing themselves second on the Dream11 IPL 2020 points table. Bangalore's bowlers dismantled the Kolkata batting line-up by striking gold right from the first delivery, eventually allowing them to set a target of just 85 runs in 20 overs. Brendon McCullum opined that the batters ought to get creative despite the challenging conditions in order to fetch positive results. 

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'Have to tidy up'   

Speaking after the game against Bangalore, Mccullum pointed out that the intent from the batters at the top of the order was missing and that it was an issue that needed to be addressed by the team. Kolkata suffered a shocking batting collapse in the hands of the Bangalore bowlers, with Mohammad Siraj ripping through the top order to send three batsmen back during the powerplay. The former Kiwi skipper felt that the batsmen at the top ought to get more creative to overcome the challenging conditions and opined that the team could not win many games if they batted the way they did on Wednesday.

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Frustrated by Kolkata's 'timid approach', McCullum said that the team needed to tidy up in a few areas as IPL 2020 enters the second leg. McCullum slammed the team for not showing intent despite talking about being positive before the game and said that they were fortunate to be on the fourth position in the Dream11 IPL 2020 points table. "If you are defending 84, you win one out of 150 games. Tonight wasn’t good enough from the batting point of view,” Brendon McCullum said. Further, the former Kiwi skipper felt that none of Kolkata's top-order batsmen displayed creativity to tackle the challenges posed and that the team couldn't win many games with the way they played on Wednesday. 

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Bangalore rout Kolkata

Pacer Mohammed Siraj's fiery opening spell, accentuated by two rare wicket-maiden overs, set up Bangalore's dominant eight-wicket victory over Kolkata here on Wednesday. He ended with enviable figures of 4-2-8-3 and in the process emerged as the first bowler in the history of IPL to bowl two-wicket- maiden overs. After Siraj's furious display, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (2/15) stymied Kolkata's revival hopes as Bangalore restricted them to their second-lowest total of 84 for eight.

In reply, Bangalore completed the formalities in 13.3 overs, securing their seventh win from 10 matches and moved up a place to second in the table with 14 points. Bangalore lost their opener Aaron Finch (16) after the Powerplay overs with Lockie Ferguson striking in his first over. Devdutt Padikkal (25) was run out as Bangalore lost two wickets in the same over. But skipper Virat Kohli (18 not out) and Gurkeerat Singh (21 not out) ensured that there were no more hiccups. They sealed the win with 39 balls to spare. Bangalore had secured a massive 82-run over KKR win in the first match between the two sides. 

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