Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a smart move today by promoting Andre Russell to number five and it paid off. Russell came to bat in the 13th over when KKR were 111/3. At the beginning of his innings, Russell took some time to settle, and by the end of the 15th over, his score was just two runs from eight balls. His innings took off in the 16th over when he hit Akash Madhwal for a four, a six, and another four.
In the meantime, Russell completed 1000 IPL runs at Eden Gardens—a feat that has only been achieved by two players before him: Gautam Gambhir (1407) and Robin Uthappa (1159).
Russell hit the last three balls of the 18th over for three sixes. On the fourth ball of Jofra Archer’s 19th over, Russell deposited the ball into the stands to complete his first fifty of the season. The fifty came off just 22 balls.
Andre Russell batted at a strike rate of 228.00
Russell built a 61-run partnership from 33 balls with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, which not only gave solidity to the KKR innings but also laid the foundation for a great finish. Along with Rinku Singh, Russell stitched an unbeaten 34-run partnership off just 11 balls, taking KKR to 206/4 in their 20 overs. Russell scored 57 runs off 25 balls at a strike rate of 228.00, including four fours and six sixes.
Before this match, Russell was having a very lean patch in this IPL, with just 72 runs in 10 matches. His team badly needed this innings from him and it came at the perfect time also.
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