The crowd at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium were left awestricken after watching the Andre Russell show on Friday night. The dynamic all-rounder returned to form with a bang, rescuing the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the chase of 138 against Punjab Kings (PBKS).
Victory seemed difficult for KKR at one stage as they were reduced to 51 for 4 after Rahul Chahar’s double-wicket maiden. But Russell had different plans for the night. After being for almost two IPL seasons, the 34-year-old finally showed what he is known for.
Russell scored a quickfire 70 not out off just 30 balls, with the help of 8 sixes and only 2 boundaries. He walked out to bat in the 8th over and finished KKR’s chase in the 15thwith six wickets to spare.
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The victory took KKR to the top of the points table with four points. Team owner and Bollywood superstar took to Twitter and heaped praise on Russell for showing his muscle power after a long time.
“Welcome back my friend @Russell12A so long since saw the ball fly so high!!! It takes a life of its own when U hit it Man!,” Shah Rukh tweeted.
Khan also lauded Umesh Yadav for bowling a phenomenal spell in which he registered his career-best figures of 4 for 23 as KKR bowled PBKS out for 137.
“And @y_umesh wow! To @ShreyasIyer15 & team well done. Have a happy nite boys,” Shah Rukh added.
Welcome back my friend @Russell12A so long since saw the ball fly so high!!! It takes a life of its own when U hit it Man! And @y_umesh wow! To @ShreyasIyer15 & team well done.Have a happy nite boys.— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) April 1, 2022
Following their heroics, Russell and Umesh now hold the Orange and Purple caps, respectively. The former surpassed RCB skipper Faf du Plessis on the list of highest scorers with 95 runs to his credit.
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On the other hand, Umesh now has a total of 8 wickets in the tournament. He went past his teammate Tim Southee (5 wickets) as the leading wicket-taker.
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