An explosive half-century by Andre Russell helped the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) edge past Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 4 runs in their IPL 2024 match. Heinrich Klaasen's 29-ball 63 went in vain, as he took SRH close to victory but could not take them beyond the finish line.
Russell played an unbeaten inning of 64 runs off just 25 balls with the help of seven massive sixes and three boundaries. He also picked two wickets in the match, where he bowled two overs and conceded 25 runs in his spell.
The West Indies all-rounder completed his 200th six on the penultimate ball of the 19th over which was bowled by experienced seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Other than Russell, the players who have achieved the milestone of hitting more than 200 sixes in the IPL are Chris Gayle (357), Rohit Sharma (257), AB De Villiers (251), MS Dhoni (239), Virat Kohli (235), David Warner (228), Kieran Pollard (223) and Suresh Raina (203).
Coming to the match, put to bat first by SRH, KKR was reduced to 51/4 in 7.3 overs. However, a half-century by Phil Salt (54 in 40 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and an explosive knock by Ramandeep Singh (35 in 17 balls, with a four and four sixes) kept the team's run rate just fine, but still they were struggling at 119/6 in 13.5 overs.
An explosive 67-run partnership followed between Andre Rusell (64* in 25 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) and Rinku Singh (23 in 15 balls, with three fours), powering KKR to 208/7 in 20 overs.
T Natrajan (3/32) and Mayank Markande (2/32) were the top bowlers for SRH.
In the chase of 209 runs, SRH started off well with a 60-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal (32 in 21 balls with four boundaries and a six) and Abhishek Sharma (32 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes). The team lost their way and was soon 145/5 in 16.5 overs.
However, Heinrich Klaasen (63 in 29 balls with eight sixes) and Shahbaz Ahmed (16 in five balls, with a four and two sixes) unreleased a barrage of sixes towards the end, torching pacer Mitchell Starc with a prize tag of over Rs 24 crore for 26 runs in his over, ending his first figures for KKR at 0/53 in four overs. 13 runs were needed in final over, but Harshit Rana (3/33) held his nerves, taking two wickets and defending the remaining runs.
Andre Russell secured the 'Player of the Match' for his half-century and figures of 2/25.
