Kolkata: West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell played a whirlwind knock in the game against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday as he smashed an unbeaten 64 runs in just 25 balls. During the knock, he also became the fastest batter to smash 200 sixes in the history of the tournament.
The high-scoring affair was a thrilling encounter and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) emerged triumphant in the end by four runs. Russell played a heroic innings laced with seven sixes which helped the team breach the 200-run mark. During his stay at the crease, he hit his 200th six in the IPL and became the fastest batter to do so by achieving the feat in 1322 balls. Earlier, Chris Gayle was the fastest batter to hit 200 IPL sixes as he had done it in 1811 deliveries.
Russell's record six came on the penultimate ball of the 19th over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the ball full and wide outside off. Russell extended his arms and reached to the ball to whack it over covers and earned six runs for his power-hitting.
Also, it was the ninth double of a 50-plus score and a wicket for Russell and he occupied the top spot in the list of all-rounders doing so on most occasions with nine to his name. Shane Watson and Jacques Kallis have done so on eight occasions.
Thanks to Heinrich Klaasen's onslaught in the second innings, it was the innings with the most sixes (15) for SRH in the history of the tournament. The previous record was from 2019 when they had hit 13 maximums against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Hyderabad.
After Russell's explosion in the first innings, Heinrich Klassen came with a befitting reply in the second innings carving extreme destruction with the willow. However, it was Nitish Rana who prevented him from ensuring a victory for Pat Cummins and Co. and KKR won the match by four runs.
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