McMillan said had the solution immediately after the game.
"We addressed it [that] night, chucked them in a room, turned off the lights and told them to sort it out," he said yesterday, tongue lodged firmly in cheek. "There was some loud calling going on, which was what I wanted to hear, and I'm sure [today] will be good as gold."
The image of batsman staggering around a dark hotel room bumping into each other is vaguely Keystone Cops, although it's more likely something McMillan might have fancied doing to his batsmen.
McMillan was inclined to put the shambolic running down to a freakish situation - a mix of lack of judgment and indecision.
Coach and captain concurred practising for those situations is near impossible. You can mimic situations, such as batsmen having to turn halfway down a pitch and scamper back with a fielder poised to throw. But that doesn't match reality, which is when split-second decisions are made and pressure puts a mental squeeze on.
"It's very difficult to train for. Lots of things affect your running between the wickets," said McMillan. "One thing is you've got to be aware not only you have to get to the other end, it's your mate as well. It was one of those nights we'll write off and be a lot better tomorrow and moving forward."
Two of the four run-outs - Dan Vettori and Luke Ronchi - came when the ball was struck roughly towards square leg, which is one area where the demarcation line between whose call it is can be blurred.
The general rule is the striker has the call if he hits the ball in front of square on either side of the pitch; behind square, or point, is where responsibility shifts to the non-striker. Dead on square can be no man's territory if the batsmen are not careful.
Decisive calling is essential. Yes, er, wait, er ... and it's too late. Add in some slick Sri Lankan fielding and the die was cast in a ghastly middle innings period in Hamilton.
Indeed as centurymaker Brendon McCullum pointed out, he should have been run out by at least a metre earlier in the New Zealand innings, when he charged down for a quick single behind square leg and had to put the brakes on. He was saved by a truly awful return from Lahiru Thirimanne to the bowlers' end.
McCullum, acknowledging it was a batting shocker, gave Sri Lanka their due too. "It's just pressure. You saw Sri Lanka went from being reasonably disinterested at that point [when New Zealand were 158 for three with 20 overs left and McCullum roaring along on 117] to being one of the best fielding teams in the world for a 15-20 over period," he said. "We let that happen so we've got to cop it on the chin. We know Sri Lanka are a team who, if you give them a sniff, they scrap hard."
Running Out
There are 10 instances of five players being run out in one-day internationals, starting with the World Cup final in 1975, when five Australians were caught short by the West Indies.
Five South Africans were run out against New Zealand in Kimberley in 2013.
New Zealand have twice lost five wickets to run-outs in ODIs. Against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1988, Robert Vance, Andrew Jones, Dipak Patel, Tony Blain and Danny Morrison took that route back to the pavilion (Sri Lanka lost two as well, making seven in the game). In Napier against India in 1999, Bryan Young, Roger Twose, Dion Nash, Chris Harris and Dan Vettori were run- out, and India also lost three in their two-wicket win.
There are 56 instances of teams losing four wickets in an innings to run outs.
The individual with the record for run outs is Australian wicket keeper Ian Healy, who was dismissed 21 times in 120 innings.
