IPL 2019: Andre Russell's heroics take KKR to a stunning 5-wicket win
Andre Russell set the M Chinnaswamy stadium alight with his jaw-dropping hitting as Kolkata Knight Riders stole a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 17 of IPL 2019.
KKR captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and decided to field first. RCB's openers Parthiv Patel and Virat Kohli got off to a great start, hitting 13 runs in the first over off Prasidh Krishna. Both played with positive intent to put pressure on the KKR bowlers.
Kohli in particular looked in great touch as he unfurled some beautiful strokes. At the end of 6 overs, RCB were 53 for 0.
After the powerplay overs, Nitish Rana got the breakthrough by dismissing Parthiv for 25. Kohli and Parthiv Patel had added 64 for the opening wicket.
The skipper continued to play attacking cricket to reach his 35th IPL fifty off 31 balls. AB de Villiers took time to settle in before he too started smashing the KKR bowlers to all parts of the ground.
Both batsmen showed their class and made batting look supremely easy on a sporting wicket. De Villiers reached his half-century off just 28 balls, and the duo were threatening to take the game well out of KKR's reach.
However, Kuldeep Yadav took a brilliant catch to dismiss Kohli for a superb 84 off 49 balls. Kohli and De Villiers had added 108 runs for the 2nd wicket in just 9 overs. The South African was also dismissed soon after for a brilliant 63 off 32 balls.
Marcus Stoinis played a cameo at the end, scoring 28 off 13 balls to help RCB post 205 for 3 at the end of 20 overs.
Chasing a target of 206, Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn got off to a flier as they added 28 runs in 1.5 overs. Navdeep Saini got the breakthrough by dismissing Narine for 10, which brought Robin Uthappa to the crease.
Uthappa took some time to settle while Lynn played some powerful strokes at the other end. After 6 overs, the KKR score read 59 for 1.
Uthappa and Lynn continued to attack the RCB bowlers after the powerplay overs, but Pawan Negi's introduction earned an immediate wicket as he dismissed Uthappa for 33. Uthappa and Lynn had added 65 runs for the 2nd wicket.
Negi soon struck again, getting rid of the dangerous Lynn for 43. Nitish Rana then played some deft shots before Yuzvendra Chahal got his wicket for 37.
Dinesh Karthik struggled with his timing and was dismissed for 19 off 15 balls. But that only brought Andre Russell into the limelight, and he smashed the RCB bowlers with frightening ease.
Russell hit as many as 28 runs in the 19th over, making a once-difficult chase look routine. Shubman Gill hit the winning run and helped KKR register a famous 5 wicket win, with Russell remaining not out on 48 off 13 balls.
Brief scores: KKR 206 for 5 in 19.1 overs (Andre Russell 48*, Chris Lynn 43, Nitish Rana 37, Pawan Negi 2/21, Yuzvendra Chahal 1/24) beat RCB 205 for 3 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 84, AB de Villiers 63, Marcus Stoinis 28*, Kuldeep Yadav 1/31, Sunil Narine 1/30) by 5 wickets.