Coming to the business end of this year’s IPL, today’s match between Kolkata and Hyderabad was crucial for the race of playoffs. Hyderabad was much favourite after 5 straight wins on a trot while it was a must-win game for KKR to increase their little chance for the playoffs. However, KKR responded well in all three departments by defeating SRH by 54 runs. Andre Russell was the star of the match due to his all-around abilities with both the bat and ball.
(Source: Indian Express)
KKR captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first in this crucial encounter. Opting for batting first, KKR had a decent start. But, some quick wickets in the middle overs brought them to the score of 83 for 4 wickets in 10 overs. Then, Sam Billings and Russell came to the party while KKR ended with a score of 177 for the loss of 6 wickets in the full quota of 20 overs. Andre Russell scored a quickfire unbeaten 49 runs in 28 balls only including 4 sixes and 3 fours. On the other hand, young Indian sensation Umran Malik had a good outing after a few matches by scalping 3 wickets for 33 runs. In the reply, SRH looked to start in an attacking manner but they failed to manage the overall tempo as per the asking rate. SRH managed to score only 123 runs by losing 8 wickets. The pace trio of Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee and Andre Russell was in full song as together, they bagged 6 wickets. Both Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine enjoyed a wicket apiece in their total 8 overs. Andre Russell had a fantastic evening by taking 3 wickets for 22 runs along with his unbeaten knock of 49 runs.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
A huge win of 54 runs provided a huge boost to KKR in their net run rate (+0.160) also. Now, the whole of Kolkata needs to keep their tabs on other matches. So that, such results go in their favour and then, they can win the last match by a healthy margin. A nearly impossible task! Still, this huge win has come up as fresh air in KKR’s this year’s IPL. Let's see if KKR pull off some miracle or not in the coming days…
Share your thoughts in the Comment Section regarding Russell’s Performance…
Comments