Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batting coach Ryan ten Doeschate opened up about the loss against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Ryan ten Doeschate mentioned that among the bowlers due to the aggressive batting in the league There is a certain level of fear during the ongoing tournament.
Team totals have steadily increased since T20 cricket began, and 200 is now considered a par score. The Shreyas Iyer-led team failed to defend a mammoth total of 261 runs in Kolkata on Friday, April 26. The Sam Curran-led team chased the target with 10 balls to spare.
Jonny Bairstow played a crucial role in helping his team achieve the most successful run chase in the history of T20 cricket. Bairstow scored an unbeaten 108 runs off 48 deliveries. Prabhsimran Singh got off to an aggressive start with 54 off 20 balls while Shashank Singh contributed an unbeaten 68 off 28 balls.
It’s a fairly new phenomenon – Ryan ten Doeschate
At the post-match press conference, Ryan ten Doeschate urged the bowlers to be brave in difficult conditions. Doeschate emphasized the need for bowlers to find effective strategies to counter the dominance of batters.
“I think the way the batting is going across the competition, if anything there is an element of fear and I think the ball brings a lot of advantages if the guys are brave enough to face this fight.”
“But I think it’s a pretty new phenomenon, the way batters are hitting, everyone looks like they’re just taking a step back. As you say, Sunil is fantastic, other guys will be as disappointed with this performance as we were.” Doeschate said.
“We have to find ways to stop batters and take the game away from them, just like they do throughout the competition.” he further added.
Narine managed to contain the opposition batters while other bowlers struggled during the chase. Narine conceded 24 runs from his 4 overs at an impressive economy rate of 6. In contrast, the rest of the bowling unit conceded a total of 236 runs in 14.4 overs at an economy rate of 16.09.
We are not worried – Ryan ten Doeschate
Ryan ten Doeschate explained that the bowling wasn’t necessarily a problem. The KKR coach explained that the team had to adapt quickly to the conditions given the record-breaking results in the current tournament.
“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about beating the competition. But like I said, it takes the boys a long time to find a way to stop it. Uh, we’ll continue to work on that. “We don’t do that.” Doeschate concluded.
Earlier, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt formed a 138-run opening partnership after being asked to bat first. Salt scored 75 runs off 37 balls while Narine added 71 off 32 balls. Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer and Andre Russell also made important contributions towards the end of the innings.
The Kolkata team retained the second position in the table despite the defeat against the Punjab Kings. KKR will face Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, April 29.
Also Read: KKR vs DC: “Sunil Narine is a tragic slugger…” – Matthew Hayden