It was a day that belonged to Andre Russell as he demolished Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) bowling to hand Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) a sensational back-to-the-wall six-wicket victory at Eden Gardens on Sunday.
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Chasing 182, KKR were helped by Nitish Rana (68) and Robin Uthappa (35). But the star of the match was Russell, who blitzed 49 not out off 19 balls with four fours and four sixes.
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KKR needed 53 in the last three overs and they won with two balls to spare thanks to the West Indian Russell.
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Earlier, David Warner, who missed the last edition of IPL due to ball-tampering ban, returned in style with a 53-ball 85. The Australian opener hit nine fours and three sixes as SRH posted 1813.
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SRH's next best score was 40 not out from Vijay Shankar. Warner's opening partner Jonny Bairstow contributed 39.
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Not only did Russell do the damage with his willow, he chipped in with two wickets in his three-over spell.
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For SRH, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul took one wicket.
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The match at Kolkata's Eden Gardens was marred by a floodlight failure when KKR were 1183 in 15.2 overs.
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Russell was well supported by young Shubman Gill, who hit 18 not out off 10 with two sixes. Gill won the match for KKR with a six. Shakib bowled the final over with KKR needing 13. Gill hit two sixes and Russell took a single to seal the game.
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