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It turned out to be a flawless victory for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 final for Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Iyer was in awe of his team’s performance in the final as they beat Pat Cummins’ Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets with 9.3 overs to spare.
While Iyer hailed his team’s invincible run in the tournament, he praised KKR’s veteran all-rounder Andre Russell. Russell turned out to be KKR's second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He bagged 19 wickets from 15 games.
"He has got that magic wand, which he is hiding somewhere on the field," Shreyas said in the post-match presentation. "He is hoping to come and bowl and deliver for the team. He is waiting for me to call him all the time.
"Russell has been lucky for us. Almost in a majority of the games, whenever he has bowled, he has picked up the wickets and he has given us the breakthrough."
Russell’s fiery spell in the final
In the IPL 2024 final, he was introduced in the 11th over by the skipper. He delivered with the wicket of Aiden Markram who was trying to get the innings back on track. In his second over, he dismissed impact player Abdul Samad. He was brought back into the attack in the penultimate over and ended Cummins’ stay at the crease.
Russell gets emotional
KKR all-rounder got emotional as he played his first IPL final and won the trophy as well.
"No words to explain right now. It means so much with all the fans that have been supporting us throughout the season. We are the players who go game after game and make sure that we get the job done. And it's the first time we're actually celebrating our victory and I think it's the right moment. I'm happy that all of us, we are very disciplined and want the same goal. This franchise has done so much for me, with the fitness and everything. This is a big gift from all of us to them, so I'm happy," he told the broadcasters while holding back his tears.
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