Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On April 5, 2019, Andre Russell wreaked havoc on bowlers and helped his team win by five wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019. Fielding first after winning the toss, KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik invited the hosts to bat first. Riding on Virat Kohli’s 84 (49) and AB de Villiers’ 63 (32), RCB posted 205/3 in their 20 overs. In the final overs of the innings, Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis also flexed his muscles and amassed 28 runs off just 13 balls. The Aussie went back to the dugout unbeaten.
Chasing the target, KKR lost Sunil Narine in the second over of the match but Chris Lynn along with Robin Uthappa stitched a 65-run stand off 48 balls to keep the visitors alive in the chase. Both batters departed within 12 overs but Nitish Rana didn’t lose hope and kept on scoring runs at a fine pace. The left-handed batter struck 37 off 23. In the 17th over, Dinesh Karthik departed while clearing the fence and KKR saw themselves in huge trouble.
Russell displayed his belligerence and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat
With 53 required off 18 deliveries, Russell stepped up and pounded RCB bowlers mercilessly. Mohammed Siraj, who was tasked to bowl the 18th over of the innings, looked nervous and bowled a couple of beamers, which prohibited him from bowling the remaining deliveries in the over. On Siraj’s last delivery, Russel hit a massive maximum to keep his team’s fans hopeful of victory.
Replacing Siraj, Stoinis was handed the ball to complete the over but Russell hammered the Aussie and made his intentions clear. In the crunch situation, veteran Tim Southee came to bowl the penultimate over of the match but he was also not spared. The right-handed batter collected 28 runs from the New Zealand pacer’s over with five boundaries (four sixes and a four). In the last over, Shubman Gill stole a run and completed the chase for Kolkata with five balls left. Russell received the player of the match (POTM) award for his unbeaten 48-run innings off 13 balls.
