Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) six-hitting giant Andre Russell recalled one of his best nights in the IPL where, triggered by opposition skipper Virat Kohli, he went on to smash the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowling unit to all parts. Russell reminisced walking into a hopeless situation for KKR against RCB in an IPL 2019 league […]
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) six-hitting giant Andre Russell recalled one of his best nights in the IPL where, triggered by opposition skipper Virat Kohli, he went on to smash the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) bowling unit to all parts.
Russell reminisced walking into a hopeless situation for KKR against RCB in an IPL 2019 league stage encounter. When the big-built West Indies powerhitter arrived at the crease, KKR required 66 runs off the last 24 deliveries chasing a whopping 206-run target.
The KKR maverick joined his experienced KKR teammate Dinesh Karthik as they strived to eclipse the mountain for the two-time winners. Being KKR’s last recognised batting pair, the onus was entirely on the Russell-Karthik duo to finish off the game.
However, Karthik’s wicket on the last ball of the following over only further dented KKR’s chances and left it all on the shoulders of Andre Russell with 53 now needed off the last 18 balls. But the KKR allrounder wasn’t thinking along those lines in the thick of action.
For him, it was a moment to play his team’s saviour and the hero, and he gathered greater determination out of an animated celebration from Kohli.
Andre Russell blasted 48 not out off 13 balls in KKR’s win over RCB.
The then RCB skipper Kohli looked towards the KKR dugout and the family section of the visiting side at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore and showed them a two-hand fist pump. Seeing Kohli so jubilant and looking assured of an RCB victory in the given situation got Andre Russell feeling even more determined for the job at hand.
And what followed for the next two overs was an assault for the ages, as the Jamaican got on a spree of sixes. The explosive right-hander smashed an exhilarating 48 not out off just 13 balls, including seven sixes.
The batter made RCB’s Marcus Stoinis and Tim Southee regret having to bowl to him at the death, going hammer and tongs under pressure to finish off the match with five balls remaining.
Recalling his tremendous assault in an interview for kkr.in, Andre Russell highlighted Kohli’s animated celebration towards his team’s dug-out and family members as the turning point for the run-chase, which went from a hopeless one for KKR to a straightforward one at the start of the last over.
“I remember batting with DK (Dinesh Karthik) and I walked out with full of confidence, because in that case.. either I get out or I get the runs,” Russell said when host Sanjay Ganesan asked him about his blistering 48* off 13 balls.
“We needed 60 off the last 24 balls, and DK looked at me and said, ‘Big man, what are you thinking?’. And I said, ‘DK, all I am thinking about is boundaries’. And he was like ‘Okay’.”
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“And then DK gets a boundary of two, and he gets out. He hit the ball, and I think Virat take the catch (catch was taken by Yuzvendra Chahal). And Virat turned towards Venky (KKR CEO Venky Mysore) and where all the wives and KKR supporters were and he’s like ‘Come on!!’.”
“When I looked up, something triggered in my head, and I felt like ‘hell no, this is not over’. And when Shubman Gill (at No.7) walked out, I said ‘hey listen, I am going to take down anyone that bowls, anyone that comes on I am going to take them down. So just try and give me as much strike as possible’.”
The rest is history, as Andre Russell pulled off one of the most amazing cameos ever played in the IPL, hitting seven maximums and a boundary to record a jaw-dropping strike-rate of 369.23 and take KKR to an unlikely victory.
