Russell-mania: Andre Russell the giant floors Kings XI Punjab

Captain Courageous

The penultimate delivery of the 18th over from Umesh Yadaav was wide. Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey dispatched it behind point. Bailey was playing a lone hand, trying to bring a semblance of sanity into an innings which for most part looked like falling apart. From 3 for 27, the Australian’s dogged 60 put Punjab back on track.

Put into bat by Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir, the Punjab top-order found the going tough against the pace of Morne Morkel and Yadaav. They hit the right line and length from the onset and cramped the home side. Poor shot selection also added to Punjab’s problem.

Bailey walked in the fifth over at the fall of Virender Sehwag’s wicket. The 32-year-old had compatriot Glenn Maxwell for company. Initially Maxwell took charge with some calculated hits, while Bailey happily played the second fiddle. It was only in the 12th over that the captain showed his first sign of aggression, a beautifully timed stroke over covers off Yadaav. It was another poor shot selection that ended an impressive 63-run stand between the Aussie duo.

But Maxwell’s departure did not deter Bailey. He kept rotating the strike. Towards the end he decided to go after the bowlers, singling out Piyush Chawla for some special treatment. It was some lusty hitting from Bailey that pushed the Punjab score past 150.

Four-wicket Burst

A score of 156 was not a daunting task. But the start had to be good. However, that was not to be. Bowling four overs on the trot, seamer Sandeep Sharma picked up four quick wickets to put a break on Kolkata’s chase.

He first trapped opener Robin Uthappa with a fullish swinging delivery. Next up was Manish Pandey. He carved Sharma for successive boundaries, but the pacer had the last laugh, getting Pandey to play a false stroke to a decent length delivery, only to scoop it up for Bailey at mid-wicket. Rattled by the early dismissals, skipper Gautam Gambhir decided to drop anchor. But he too went soon after, slashing a wide one from Sharma behind stumps. Before him Suryakumar Yadav, hitting two glorious sixes off Mitchell Johnson, too had gone and Kolkata were in deep trouble at 60 for 4 after 7.4 overs. Sharma then drilled what looked like a telling blow when he trapped Ryan ten Doeschate with a beautiful inswinger.

Late Knight Heroics

The asking rate was 8 when Andre Russell walked in. But what was more worrying for KKR was the loss of 5 quick wickets. A partnership was needed and Russell had Yusuf Pathan for company. The duo played out the next two overs sensibly. Sensing an opportunity, captain Bailey brought back Johnson for the kill. The left-armer had been at the receiving end of Yadav’s heroics, conceding 24 in his two overs. He was hoping for some relief in his second spell. A back-of-a-length delivery was hammered by Russell through the off side for a four. Two balls later the West Indian slapped Johnson over point for another boundary. Johnson was struggling and KKR sensed an opening. Russell then clubbed left-arm spinner Axar Patel for 19 runs and by the end of the 13th over, KKR needed 53 runs. With Pathan at the other end, the target looked immensely gettable.

Russell and Pathan put together 57 runs between the 10th and 15th overs, swinging the pendulum firmly back in Kolkata’s favour. Russell survived a dropped catch, Maxwell being the culprit, but by that time the game was more or less out of Punjab’s reach.

As it happened…