Andre Russell in action against PBKS in an IPL 2023 match on Monday.© BCCI/IPL
Andre Russell-mania was on full display at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday as Kolkata Knight Riders edged past Punjab Kings in an IPL 2023 game on the last ball. Chasing a challenging target of 180, KKR were 124/4 in 15.2 overs as skipper Nitish Rana departed after scoring a half-century. In came Andre Russell. The West Indies allrounder was not having a good time with the bat till the match against PBKS. But on Monday, the old Russell again came out. He and Rinku Singh regularly got boundaries as KKR reached 154/4 in 18 overs, needing 26 runs in 12 balls.
Then Russell did what does best as he smacked three sixes off Sam Curran as KKR got 20 runs off the penultimate over. Though Russell fell on 42 (23b) on the fifth ball of the last over, Rinku hit a four of the last ball to take KKR over the line.
Dr. Dre is putting on a clinic tonight at Eden Gardens! #KKRvPBKS #IPLonJioCinema #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/K3f12GCmke
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 8, 2023
Rinku Singh added another bright chapter to his legend as a “finisher” with a last-ball boundary as Kolkata Knight Riders beat Punjab Kings by five wickets on Monday to keep their IPL play-off hopes alive.
It was a complete ‘RRR’ show by KKR as skipper Nitish Rana’s half-century and Andre Russell adding muscle to the chase of 180 enabled Rinku to finish off the game with a 10-ball-21 not out.
Earlier, Varun Chakravarthy once again brilliantly spearheaded their bowling department to grab 3/26 as KKR put up a tidy bowling show to restrict PBKS to a below-par 179 for seven after the visitors opted to bat on a slow wicket.
In reply, KKR show batting show was led by Rana’s stellar effort when he promoted himself to No 3 and laid the foundation with a 38-ball 51 (6×4, 1×6).
On a wicket where the odd ball was gripping and batters struggled to find their timings, Rana stiched a crucial fifty-plus stand with Venkatesh Iyer (11) before Andre Russell and Rinku Singh sealed the issue.
With PTI inputs
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