"Andre Russell was probably going to bowl the 19th over if not for his injury": David Hussey
Kolkata Knight Riders chief mentor David Hussey believes Andre Russell's untimely injury changed things for them in their two-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings. Kolkata went down narrowly to the men in yellow in an epic clash on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.
Andre Russell's hamstring injury forced Eoin Morgan to give Prasidh Krishna the second-last over when Chennai needed 26 runs. However, it proved to be the turning point as Ravindra Jadeja pounced on his bowling. The southpaw carted 22 runs to bring the equation to four runs off the final over to reach the target of 172.
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David Hussey remarked that Russell would have had every chance of bowling the 19th over if he hadn't sustained the hamstring injury. Hussey felt Jadeja was too good for Krishna on the day. However, he backed the speedster to learn from this performance and do well in the future.
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"Of course, when Andre went out of the park, he had one over to bowl. Was he going to bowl it, nobody really knows. He bowled probably particularly well upfront, so he probably was gonna bowl the 19th over.
'Prasidh Krishna has been an amazing death bowler for us. Yeah, he is definitely in our plans, unfortunately, he got beaten by a better player today in Jadeja. Knowing Prasidh Krishna, he is going to come back and dominate," Hussey answered a query from ANI News at a press conference.
Andre Russell bowled three overs on the day, getting the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad and conceding 28 runs. However, the 33-year old trudged off the field due to a hamstring injury. KKR had been in the driver's seat until the 19th over.
David Hussey unsure of Andre Russell's extent of injury
Speaking of Russell's injury, Hussey hopes for it not to be serious with the Jamaican. The 44-year old trusts the franchise's medical staff to look after him and iterated how Russell is critical for them.
"It is still too early to tell. Russell said that he felt something pop in his hamstring so we have got the best medical staff in the business, they will look after him. Hopefully, nothing too serious with him because he is a key player for us. Hopefully, he comes back and lights up the tournament."
While the Super Kings required only four off the last over, it wasn't smooth sailing. They got home in the final ball and moved to the top of the points table by winning their eighth game. By contrast, Kolkata are in fourth, keeping themselves in contention for the playoff.