Following his side’s four run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell said that pacer Harshit Rana wanted the last over and lauded the young pacer for coming back well after conceding a six while defending 13 runs in the final over. Despite an all-round show by Russell, SRH’s Heinrich Klaasen threatened to ruin KKR’s party and dented the Rs 24-plus crore prize-tagged Mitchell Starc’s IPL comeback with some massive sixes. But a win was not meant to be for SRH as Harshit managed to keep his composure and defended 13 runs in the last over despite Klaasen hitting him for a massive six early on. Harshit went on to pick up two wickets, including that off Klaasen.
Following the match, Russell, crowned Player of Match for his fifty and two wickets, said in the presentation, “Shows a lot about his (Harshit) character. He told me he wanted the last over, he claimed it and he came back strong after the first ball went for six.”
About his batting and contributing to KKR’s wins over the years, the hard-hitting batter said, “Sometimes stuff pops on my Instagram and I realise how well I am striking the ball. Shows that you are doing well. I have tried to react with whatever comes my way. Over the last 2 years, bowlers have their plans against me. I have been digging out the runs, and I know everyone has a plan for me.”
“I was on the bench early on, and just tried to make myself useful. This franchise means a lot to me, what I did tonight was just a way to prove what this jersey means to me. Hopefully I can keep performing this way,” he concluded.
Put to bat first by SRH, KKR was reduced to 51/4 in 7.3 overs. However, a half-century by Phil Salt (54 in 40 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and an explosive knock by Ramandeep Singh (35 in 17 balls, with a four and four sixes) kept team’s run rate just fine, but still they were struggling at 119/6 in 13.5 overs.
An explosive 67-run partnership followed between Andre Rusell (64* in 25 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) and Rinku Singh (23 in 15 balls, with three fours), powering KKR to 208/7 in 20 overs.
T Natrajan (3/32) and Mayank Markande (2/32) were the top bowlers for SRH.
In the chase of 209 runs, SRH started off well with a 60-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal (32 in 21 balls with four boundaries and a six) and Abhishek Sharma (32 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes). The team lost their way and was soon 145/5 in 16.5 overs.
However, Heinrich Klaasen (63 in 29 balls with eight sixes) and Shahbaz Ahmed (16 in five balls, with a four and two sixes) unreleased a barrage of sixes towards the end, torching pacer Mitchell Starc with a prize tag of over Rs 24 crore for 26 runs in his over, ending his first figures for KKR at 0/53 in four overs. 13 runs were needed in final over, but Harshit Rana (3/33) held his nerves, taking two wickets and defending the remaining runs.
Andre Russell secured the ‘Player of the Match’ for his half-century and figures of 2/25.
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