On Friday, the world saw a few of the best T20 performances in the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings. Umesh Yadav continued his purple patch with the ball to take four wickets and bag yet another “Man of the Match” award. On the other hand, big West Indian Andre Russell made sure that KKR won with a better net run-rate. He once again showed why KKR rates him so highly.
Russel smashed Punjab bowlers to all park of the stadium to score an unbeaten 70-run knock. The all-rounder scored these runs in just 31 balls, including two fours and eight maximums. He came into bat at 51/4 at the end of the seventh over of the innings.
On the other hand, Sam Billings was struggling to add runs. But as he joined the wicket-keeper batsman, the match situation changed dramatically. Both batters added 90 runs off just 45 balls to seal the deal for KKR. Russell played some shots that were so straight that both bowler and umpire had to duck under to save themselves.
“I feared for my life couple of times” – Billings on Andre Russell
70 out of the 90-run partnership came from the bat of the West Indian. However, Billings also seemed impressed after the knock by the all-rounder. He also expressed that some shots were so hard that he himself was looking to hide.
In the post-match presentation, the wicket-keeper batsman said that he had the best seat in the house to watch Russell unleash.
He also praised Russell’s innings that won KKR the match. Billings stated that it was a special effort and he was lucky to stand by the all-rounder. He further concluded that, “I feared for my life a couple of times, as we saw, but special, special [knock] for him.”