KOLKATA: Andre Russell was at his belligerent best to bring Kolkata Knight Riders out of the woods with the bat before he came good with the ball to help the hosts record a narrow four-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad in their opening IPL match at the Eden Gardens.
The Knights’ poor batting and bowling Powerplay records returned to haunt them as the hosts were reduced to 32/3 in the fourth over after SRH skipper Pat Cummins won the toss and decided to bowl first. But Russell got his half-century off 20 balls and stayed undefeated on 64, hitting three fours and seven sixes, as KKR collected 85 runs off the last five overs. KKR’s star of last season Rinku Singh too found the boundaries with some good placements before falling for 23 off 15 balls.
