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Russell calypso powers KKR to victory against the Kings
Man of the match Andre Russell
cracked a scintillating 35-ball 66 to power Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
home from a precarious position against Kings XI Punjab in an Indian
Premier League (IPL) encounter here on Saturday.
Replying to the kings' 155/9, the Knights reached 159/6, to register a four wicket victory with 13 balls to spare.
The
Jamaican Russell, who bagged two wickets earlier in the evening, kept
on clobbering the hapless KXIP bowlers all round the park plundering
nine fours and two sixes enroute, as he led the ,Knights' recovery after
they looked at sea losing half their batsmen inside eight overs, with
only 60 on board.
Russel was aptly supported by the hard-hitting
Yusuf Pathan who made an unbeaten 28 of 24 balls (4x4) at the
Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium.
After being jolted
upfront with openers Robin Uthappa (13) and Manish Pandey (12) departing
early, Kolkata's adopted son from Mumbai Suryakumar Yadav (23; 10b,
2x4, 2x6) played a breezy knock clubbing Mitchell Johnson for 15 in his
first over, courtesy two sixes that were flicked beautifully into the
stands.
But his merriment at the crease was short-lived, with an edge carrying to the keeper.
Skipper
Gambhir 11 (19 balls 0x6, 1x4) soon followed Suryakumar into the
dug-out. He tried to heave pacer Sandeep Sharma but only managing to
nick it to wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha.
Ryan ten Doeschate, the
Dutchman, got out of the very next ball, adjudged leg-before-wicket but
television replays showed he had edged the delivery before it thumped
into the pads. The over was a maiden too. Sharma finished with
career-best T20 figures of 4/25.
After being 53/2 at the end of
six, the defending champions meandered to 68/5 at the end of the 10th
over, as the Kings seemed firmly entrenched.
West Indies bat
Russell got into the act thereafter, swinging the willow with aplomb.
Left-arm off-spinner Axar Patel was on the receving end, conceding 19 in
an over.
Johnson was tonked too, as Russell got stuck to the Australian and then bought up his 50 of just 28 balls.
He
kept at it till the Knights were on the home stretch. He departed in
the 18th over, with Mitchell Johnson rattling his citadel. Chawla scored
the winning runs with a boundary, as the amtch got over in 17.5 overs
and KKR jumped to the third spot on the league table with two wins from
three matches.
Put in to bat, Kings XI skipper George Bailey
muscled his way to 60 off 45 balls (5x4, 2x6) but lacked support from
the other end. Their second highest scorer was Glenn Maxwell (33; 26 b,
2x4, 2x6). KKR bowlers chipped in wickets at regular intervals, pegging
the opponents just when they were trying to shift gears.
Set for a bigger score, the Kings lost their way in the death, losing four wickets and managing 24 runs in the last 16 balls.
Umesh Yadav was the pick of the bowlers as he returned figures of 3/33.
The
Australian duo of Maxell and Bailey steadied the ship after losing
early wickets as the Kings reached 77/3 at the half way mark. Maxwell,
however, was given a let-off on 13 by Yusuf Pathan, who dropped a sitter
in the deep.
They put on a 63-run partnership, but Maxwell fell
trying to hit Umesh Yadav over cover and was held out in the deep,
courtesy a good running catch by Russell.
The penultimate over
from KKR's West Indian spin king Sunil Narine was again top-class as he
gave away just six runs and picked up the wicket of all-rounder Axar
Patel returning with figures of 1/17 from his four overs, it was the
West Indies offie's first wicket in the tournament this year.
Bailey
clinched the orange cap in the last over as he clubbed the second ball
for a six with Ryan ten Doeschate tipping it over the boundary line.