RUSSELL’S ALL-ROUND SHOW GUIDES KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS TO BIG WIN
West Indian takes 3/22 and hits 49 against Hyderabad
Andre Russell’s clinical all-round performance (49 not out and 3/22) led Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing 54-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the 61st match of the IPL 2022 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, here yesterday.
With this win, Kolkata jumped to the 6th spot, gave a huge boost to their net run rate and kept alive their chances of making the play-offs while SRH slipped to the 8th spot after suffering their fifth straight loss.
Fighting knocks by Andre Russell and Sam Billings (34 off 29) guided Kolkata Knight Riders to 177/6 in 20 overs. Winning the toss and opting to bat first, KKR were struggling for 94-5 after 11.3 overs but Russell and Billings stitched a partnership of 63 runs for the sixth wicket and ensured their team had a solid total on the board. Apart from Russell and Billings, Ajinkya Rahane (28 off 24) and Nitish Rana (26 off 16) also made vital contributions with the bat for KKR.
Chasing a challenging total, SRH skipper Kane Williamson once again struggled to get going and eventually got out to Russell for 9 off 17 deliveries. Despite Abhishek Sharma’s aggressive intent, Hyderabad managed to score just 31/1 in the power play.
With the required rate going up, Abhishek smashed Sunil Narine for 17 runs. But, he didn’t get much support from Rahul Tripathi (9), who got out to Tim Southee courtesy of a stunning catch in his follow-through. Aiden Markram, who came to bat next, resisted Kolkata’s attack with a handy 25-ball 32. But, Varun Chakravarthy removed the solid-looking Abhishek Sharma (43 off 28 balls) to dent Hyderabad’s hopes even further.
Russell on fire
Nicholas Pooran also couldn’t do anything and fell for 2 to Narine and Markram’s wicket in the 15th over ended Hyderabad’s hopes. Shashank Singh got an 11 but it was not enough as SRH were restricted to 123/8 in 20 overs. Andre Russell (3/22) was the most successful bowler for Kolkata while the likes of Tim Southee (2/23), Umesh Yadav (1/19), and Varun Chakravarthy (1/25), Sunil Narine (1/34) also picked crucial wickets at regular intervals.
Earlier, Kolkata got off to a shaky start as they lost their opener Venkatesh Iyer (7) in the last delivery of the second over.
Another left-hander Nitish Rana then joined senior pro Ajinkya Rahane in the middle. Rana took some time to adjust to the conditions in Pune before smashing T. Natarajan for 18 runs in his over. On the other hand, Rahane too struck some boundaries as Kolkata reached 55-1 at the end of the power play.
Bowling his first over, Malik dismissed a well-set Rana (26 off 16), who chipped the ball on the on-side and Shashank Singh covered a good distance from the fine-leg to complete the catch. Skipper Shreyas Iyer walked in to bat and struck a boundary on his first ball but Rahane got out on the final delivery of the eighth over, leaving Kolkata to 72-3. With five overs to go, both Russell and Billings decided to free their arms, scoring 10, 13 and 9 respectively in the next three overs. Umran Malik (3/33) was the most successful bowler for Hyderabad.