KKR will be back strongly: Russell

Chennai, April 14: Kolkata Knight Riders’ big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell blamed it on the pitch as he dissected his team’s narrow 10-run loss to Mumbai Indians here and asserted that the side will bounce back strongly in the coming matches.The Eoin Morgan-led side dominated the game almost in its entirety but choked in the final few overs to lose in a modest chase of 152.

Needing just 30 runs from 27 deliveries, KKR’s experienced finishers — Russell and Dinesh Karthik — faltered big time as the fivetime champions Mumbai pulled off an epic comeback to secure their first win of the season.

“It’s a difficult wicket to bat on, it was not easy for a new batter to come in and start hitting from ball one. It’s very challenging,” Russell, who got out for nine off 15 balls, said at the post-match virtual interaction.

“Even for me, the ball was a bit up and down so it's not the easiest pitch to hit on. No matter how good you are, you still need a couple of balls to actually get your eyes in.

“Unfortunately, a good finisher like myself and DK, we didn't get bat to balls. I think if we did get a few boundaries the game would be over. We definitely feel disappointed but at the end of the day, it's not the end of the road. It's our second game,” he added.

Russell said they would learn from the mistakes and will make a comeback strongly.