Here’s what Nitesh Rana says on comeback of Andre Russell
With only 166 runs in ten matches at a strike rate of 150, it would be an understatement to suggest Andre Russell was due in the IPL 2023.
The KKR’s captain, Nitish Rana, and the team’s management, led by Chandrakant Pandit, backed Russell, and it finally paid off after 10 games this season. Andre Russell of old had returned.
He hit 42 from 23 balls to help KKR chase down 180 against the Punjab Kings and keep their playoff hopes alive.
After a solid start with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (15) and Jason Roy (38) before captain Nitish Rana’s 51-run knock, KKR lost momentum when Rana and Venkatesh Iyer were removed quick succession.
That the necessary rate reached 12 in the final five overs on a not-so-batting-friendly pitch exacerbated matters for KKR, Russell, on the other hand, raised his hand.
In the 19th over, when the situation was 26 from 12 balls, he blasted three sixes off Sam Curran to change the match in KKR’s way.
His three sixes against Curran all came from classic cricket shots. The 1st two were flicked off his pads, while the third was chopped off at the point.
Russell’s ferocious hitting reduced the equation to 6 off 6 in the last over, and despite Arshdeep Singh bowling a fantastic last over and Russell being run out in the penultimate delivery of the match, KKR were able to cross the line in the final ball thanks to a boundary by Rinku Singh.
“I surprisingly flicked one in the stands tonight.” I didn’t swing at it, but I was relieved that it went for six because we were in desperate need of a boundary at the time.
“To get those two sixes and get us going into the next over and cutting another ball for 6 over point really put the icing on the cake,” Russell stated after KKR’s five-wicket victory.
After the game, KKR captain Rana, the team’s leading scorer on Monday, said he felt Russell would come through and win a game for KKR.
“After ten matches, we were all waiting for that Russell innings.” He was only one inning away, and I kept telling him, “You have done a lot, and you will 100% win us a game.”
“Even this morning when he was bowling (in practice), I told him that you are just one good match away from doing it, and he did it today,” Nitish Rana remarked in the post-match presentation.
Rana also admitted that he was upset with his bowlers for giving up runs in the final couple of overs, allowing PBKS to score a respectable 179/7.
“This pitch gave us the feeling of being at home.” “Our bowlers bowled poorly at the death, and I was angry that we conceded so many runs on a 160-165 run wicket,” he remarked.
Get all the latest news of Saurashtra on Indian daily post.
