To someone campaigns, barrel

Both the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders are coming off losses after both of them had pleasant starts to their campaigns. For the Knight Riders though, the loss to the Rajasthan Royals was more serious than the Indians trip up to the Royal Challengers. The Knight Riders will be remembering their painful experiences of the previous two IPLs and will not want that defeat to have been the start of a downward spiral back to the hells of the bottom of the barrel.

If Chris Gayle has recovered from the fever that kept him out of the clash with the Royals, he is a shoe-in for the starting eleven. It's likely that Brad Hodge will sit out and now the omission of either the Australian or Owais Shah is justifiable because of the way Kolkata batted in their chase against the Royals. Despite having wickets in hand, they failed to keep up with a run rate that wasn't too demanding and will need someone who is not afraid of the likes of Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga.

Could you please explain to me what the emboldened parts means in this context?

Source : http://live.cricbuzz.com/live-cricket-scores-and-commentary.html