Xtra Time Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Riders all rounder Andre Russell must thank Navdeep Saini for bowling the beamer at him during the Indian Premier League clash against Royal Challlengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy on Friday. The umpire immediately called it a no ball and stopped the Delhi pacer from continuing his over. The next three balls bowled by Marcus Stoinis disappeared into the stands.
A similar incident took place in the match against Kings XI Punjab. On that occasion Md Shami bowled the KKR all rounder only to be called a no ball as there was only three fielders inside the circle. What happened next is history as Russell powered his way to a match winning knock of 48 runs off 17 balls.
The Jamaican is making easy work of the boundaries here in the cash rich league. He has so far hit 22 sixes and 12 fours, scoring 207 runs off only 77 balls.
“No ground is big enough for me I guess, I just trust my power. The hand-eye coordination is the key (for low full tosses) as they aren’t easy to hit. I try short arm jabs as extending the arms can put you in trouble,” said Russell on his big hitting at the post match presentation ceremony.
The all rounder walked into bat with Knights still needing 68 runs off 20 balls. But he made easy work of the target, getting it with five balls to spare.
Talking about what he thought as he walked in to bat, Russell said, “I was confident when I went out to bat. DK (Dinesh Karthik) was telling me to take a few balls to see how the pitch is behaving. I was watching in the dugout on TV and had a fair idea. When you need 68 off 20-odd balls, it doesn’t happen every day.”