‘The beast is back’: Andre Russell slams 25-ball-64 for KKR, internet explodes

Kolkata Knight Riders overcame a solid start to post 208 for 7 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Saturday’s IPL match A stunning score, after Phil Salt’s 50, Andre Russell unleashed his fury with an unbeaten 64 off 25 balls. Salter, who was unsold at the auction and was only appointed as Jason Roy’s replacement, scored his third IPL fifty in just 38 balls before being caught by Mayank Markande while trying to accelerate. (3/39) Dismissal. The Englishman made 54 off 40. Russell lobbed the SRH leg-spinner deep into the stands against Markande – three sixes in five balls. Markande thought he had the last laugh when Aiden Markram’s long shot gave him the final laugh, but replays showed he touched down as he dived forward to catch the ball, allowing Russell to score Got a breather at 20 minutes.

The Andre Russell beast is back.

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 23, 2024

The warning signs were already there for SRH, as the Jamaican exploded in the penultimate over of the innings from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who hit him with two fours and two sixes to finish with 26 runs.

Andre Russel becomes the fastest to hit 200 sixes in IPL…!!!!!pic.twitter.com/mfJJFMKyRP

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 23, 2024

Rinku Singh at the other end scored 23 runs off 15 balls and the duo combined for 81 runs in 33 balls while KKR scored 85 runs in the last 5 overs.

Russell is back, Eden is angry, KKR is on fire…! ! ! !

50 off just 20 balls, which included 1 four and 6 sixes – a wild shot from a madman.pic.twitter.com/Ostb9cUz3o

——Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) March 23, 2024

Left-arm seamer T Natarajan dismissed Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer, while veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar suppressed KKR in the powerplay, conceding just 16 runs in four overs.

Statistics alert

Andre Russel 51.59% in career IPL matches Completed six games#IPL2024 | #KKRvSRH pic.twitter.com/YIk72n1xlv

— KKR Vibe (@KnightsVibe) March 23, 2024

Bhuvneshwar played a peach as he swung the ball both ways to Salt and Sunil Narine, limiting their space and conceding just three runs.

The world’s second-ranked T20I batsman picked Marco Jansen to free his arms, hitting the lanky South African pacer three times in a row in the offside corridor.

But KKR suddenly lost Narine in a flurry and after Bhuvneshwar sorted things out again, Cummins brought in Natarajan in a smart captaincy move.

This worked wonders as he dismissed Venkatesh and the returning skipper Shreyas in three balls, both of whom fell to lobs.

Natarajan altered his length to deceive Venkatesh, while Shreyas, who missed last season with a back injury, got two balls off Cummins’ long-on delivery.

Markand also performed well in his first over as he fooled Nitish Rana with a high-speed ball and the KKR vice-captain simply caught Rahul at late point. Rahul Tripathi reduced KKR’s deficit to 51/4 in eight overs.

But Salter remained resolute as he was well supported by debutant Ramandeep Singh, who soon ran out of blocks with an entertaining 54-run partnership.

Ramandeep smashed Cummins for a boundary and then pulled a short one for a six.

He also hit Markande, Jansen and Shahbaz Ahmed, hitting three more sixes in his 17-ball 35 before being dismissed by Cummins.

This collaboration set the tone for Russell and Lincu’s final offense.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)