Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Kolkata Knight Riders' Andre Russell single-handedly outplayed Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 61 of the Indian Premier League at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday evening. Russell smashed an unbeaten 49 off 28 deliveries and picked three wickets in the second innings to win the game by 54 runs. KKR posted 177/6 in the first innings on the back of blistering knocks from Nitish Rana (26 off 16) and Andre Russell (49 off 28).
In response, Orange Army struggled during their run-chase as they got bundled out at 123/8 in 20 overs of the game. Abhishek Sharma (43 off 28) and Aiden Markram (32 off 25) were the only notable performers from the Hyderabad batters. At the same time, eight of Hyderabad's batters could not even reach double-digit figures.
Andre Russell picked three wickets, and Tim Southee hunted down two of Hyderabad batters, while Umesh Yadav, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy picked a wicket each. For his all-around performance, Andre Russell won the Player of the Match award.
Let's take a look at the points table after match number 61 in IPL 2022.
Changes in the points table
With this victory, Kolkata has climbed the ladder and stationed themselves at the sixth position with 12 points and are still alive in the competition. At the same time, Hyderabad slipped to the eighth spot with ten points and made their way to the playoffs challenging.
What did the captains say?
Match winning captain Shreyas Iyer was delighted to see the all-around performance of the team. "All the boys did the right things; they played fearless cricket. It was really important to win the toss," he said. However, Iyer also gave clarification on his controversial CEO remark by saying, "I wanted to say that he's (CEO) there to console the players who've been sitting out. It's tough for us as well when we select the team."
Meanwhile, Kane Williamson confessed that Russell was a threat which they could not handle properly. "We tried to create partnerships, but KKR were really good. We have been struggling with creating momentum in the last few games," he concluded.
Today's matchup
Out-of-contention Chennai Super Kings will take on mighty Gujarat Titans in the first match of the day at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While Lucknow Super Giants will lock horns with Rajasthan Royals at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in what is the last doubleheader of IPL 2022.