New Zealand’s running between the wickets in the second ODI against Sri Lanka left a lot to be desired after four batsmen were run out during their crushing six-wicket defeat.
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The run-outs undid the good work done by Brendon McCullum, who scored a brilliant century and allowed Sri Lanka to chase down the 249-run target with ease.
New Zealand batting coach Craig McMillan said it was an issue that can be easily sorted out during training and said he was confident the team will put up a better show in the rest of the series.
“I thought we played nicely for 30 overs and then had 10 overs of madness,” McMillan said.
“We dug a bit of a hole and didn’t get the score we needed. We addressed that last night. We chucked them in a room, turned off the lights and told them to sort it out. I’m sure tomorrow it will be as good as gold. It was one of those freakish nights. I saw the average in terms of run-outs over a season is about four, so one of the positives is we’ve got those out the way nice and early.
“Expect to see a better performance. There was a lack of judgment, some indecision and at times that can be off-putting.”
There were also some concerns regarding the form of opener Martin Guptill, who has not been amongst the runs for a long time in one-dayers.
With fellow opener McCullum scoring at a furious pace, Guptill is sticking out like a sore thumb at the top of the order.
But McMillan believes it’s just a matter of time before the 30-yearold hits his straps “The alarm bells aren’t ringing within the squad. He’s (Guptill) missed out twice but we know he’s a quality performer who’s got the record to back that up,” McMillan said.
“We’re confident in the guys we’ve got, but there’s no doubt we need to see more from them and hopefully that starts tomorrow.”
New Zealand play Sri Lanka in the third ODI on Saturday (05:00) at Auckland.
Reliable fast bowlers Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan are expected to be in the mix with tearaway quick Adam Milne and Trent Boult not doing enough in the second match of the series.
