Watch: Andre Russell smashed consecutive boundaries including a 92-metre six off Sam Curran in the IPL 2023 today (April 1) before the all-rounder snared him.
On the opening weekend of the IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders narrowly lost out in a thrilling chase against Punjab Kings as rain curtailed the end of the fixture. Russell powered his side back into the chase after they were reduced to 80-5 in pursuit of 192. Having already hit three boundaries in his blistering cameo innings, Russell unleashed against Curran.
He thumped a massive blow into the leg side, picking up a low full toss – Curran missing his yorker – and clubbing it well over the deep mid-wicket boundary. He followed up with a cheeky dab behind square, picking the gap between short third man and point to pick up consecutive boundaries. The blitz from Russell put Curran under pressure, having already conceded 32 runs off his first 16 balls.
He changed his length with his next delivery, pitching the ball shorter and bowling an off-cutter which bounced sharply. Russell went for a repeat of the shot which had given him a maximum off Curran’s first ball, trying to scythe it into the leg side. But, he got a thick top edge, the power on the shot carrying it all the way out to the boundary and into Sikandar Raza’s waiting hands.
The wicket was a repeat of the battle in the 2021 fixture between the two sides, where Curran dismissed Russell the ball after he reached a 21-ball half-century.
The England all-rounder was the most expensive buy in the history of the IPL at the auction earlier this year – bought by Punjab Kings for INR 18.5 Crore (£1.85 million). He has a mixed start to the tournament in his opening match, hitting 26 off 17 at the end of the Kings’ innings before conceding a huge 101-metre six in his first over to Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
