West Indies swashbuckling batter Andre Russell played a colossal knock off unbeaten 70 off 31 deliveries to power KKR to six-wicket victory over PBKS in the IPL 2022 contest on Friday.
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Andre Russell (70 not out) and Sam Billings (24 not out) put on a exhibition show with their power-hitting abilities to help KKR chase down the target of 138 runs in 14.3 overs with six wickets in hand against PBKS in the IPL 2022 contest at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday.
Chasing the moderate total, KKR lost their openers Venkatesh Iyer (3) and Ajinkya Rahane (12), cheaply.
Incoming batter and captain Shreyas Iyer, however, turned the tempo of the match towards his side as he notched up a cameo knock off 26 runs off 15 deliveries. His innings was laced with five hits to the fence.
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However, Nitish Rana, failed to add to the team tally as he was sent packing for a duck. But Russell and Billings complimented each other in the middle to make the chase look easy.
The West Indies all-rounder was the aggressor through the innings while Billings played a perfect second fiddle to him by rotating strike and hitting the odd balls to the boundary.
Russell and Billings were involved in an unbeaten 90-run match-winning partnership. The West Indies giant hit two boundaries and eight massive sixes in his 31-ball knock while the KKR newcomer smashed one boundary and a six in his 23-ball cautious effort.
For PBKS, their spinner Rahul Chahar, was the pick of the bowlers as he returned figures of 2/13 in his stipulated four overs.
Earlier, India fast bowler Umesh Yadav continued his redemption through the IPL 2022 as he picked up a four-wicket haul to restrict PBKS to 137 runs.
Asked to bat by KKR captain Iyer, factoring in the ‘swimming pool of dew’, PBKS lost their openers Mayank Agarwal (1) and Shikhar Dhawan (16) cheaply. The southpaw tried to show some resilience early as he hit one boundary and a six but was sent packing in the 15th delivery that he faced.
However, unperturbed by the early blows, Sri Lanka wicket keeper-batter Bhanuka Rajapaksa gave a good account of himself as he notched up 31 runs off nine deliveries which included three boundaries and as many sixes.
Later, Liam Livingstone (19) and U-19 India star Raj Bawa (11), chipped in with crucial runs but failed to convert their starts.
Shahrukh Khan (0), meanwhile, threw away his wicket with a poorly timed shot while Harpreet Brar (14) and Odean Smith (9 not out) also failed to show resilience against the formidable KKR bowling line-up.
However, South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada who replaced Sandeep Sharma in the match, opened up a late fightback as he hit 25 runs off 16 deliveries to help his side reach a moderate total. His innings was laced with four boundaries and one six.
Yadav maintained his purple patch in the IPL 2022 to return figures of 4/23 after running through the PBKS top and lower-order. His fellow New Zealand quick Tim Southee, meanwhile, picked up two wickets while Shivam Mavi, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell scalped one each.
