Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Andre Russell created Indian Premier League (IPL) history at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Russell became the fastest to 200 IPL sixes in terms of balls taken. He broke West Indies’ Chris Gayle’s record. Gayle took 1,811 balls to reach the milestone. Russell took just 1,322 deliveries to dethrone the self-proclaimed ‘Universe Boss’.
Gayle is followed by former Mumbai Indians (MI) all-rounder Kieron Pollard (2,055 balls), former Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter AB de Villiers (2,790 balls), Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) MS Dhoni (3,126 balls) and MI’s Rohit Sharma (3,798 balls).
Russell became the ninth batter to hit 200 or more sixes in IPL. Other batters are RCB's Virat Kohli, Delhi Capitals' (DC) David Warner, and former CSK batter Suresh Raina.
Russell achieved the massive feat in the penultimate over of the innings. He smashed Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six over covers to enter the elite list of IPL batters.
Russell’s sensational knock
The 35-year-old walked in to bat in the 14th over of the innings after opener Phil Salt lost his wicket to Mayank Markande. Salt on his KKR debut scored 54 runs from 40 balls.
Russell's six-fest started in the 16th over when he hit Markande for three sixes. He almost lost his wicket on the last ball of the over but Aiden Markram could not get his fingers underneath the ball in time. He reached his half-century in the 19th over with a maximum over fine leg off a short ball bowled by Bhuvneshwar. He took just 20 deliveries to reach his first half-century against SRH. He remained unbeaten for 64 off 25 balls including three fours and seven sixes.
Game-changing partnership
The 81-run partnership he shared with Rinku Singh is the fifth-highest for the seventh wicket in IPL history. The partnership helped KKR post a threatening total of 208/7 on the board after SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bowl first. KKR went ballistic in the final five overs as 85 runs were scored to take the total past the 200-run mark.
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