HYDERABAD: Amid the batting exploits of the usual suspects and some unexpected ones in this IPL so far, the one standing out is Andre Russell. The Jamaican has been giving sleepless nights to all the bowlers who have faced him and even those who are yet to bowl at him. Coaches and captains have been planning how to tackle the threat Russell poses, with little success.
On Sunday, Sunsrisers Hyderabad were able to do it, as they went on to hand Kolkata Knight Riders a fifth consecutive defeat. The hosts chased down 159/8 with utmost ease, thanks to another century stand between openers David Warner (67 off 38) and Jonny Bairstow (unbeaten 80 off 43).
After the previous encounter against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Russell had reportedly expressed his desire to bat at No 4. His team had fallen short by a close margin in what could have been a milestone chase in that game. Kolkata’s response in the next match? Drop him from six to seven. The result? A crushing nine-wicket defeat with 30 balls to spare. When Russell walked in to loud cheers, only 27 deliveries were left. And there were no proper batsmen to give him support. He could collect only three runs off the first five deliveries he faced, as Hyderabad bowlers held on to their nerves against him.
The all-rounder hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for two sixes in the penultimate over, but succumbed to a low full toss aimed at the pads. Rashid Khan made no mistake, as the mistimed shot went straight to deep square-leg to make it 146/7 after 18.5 overs. It was Hyderabad’s big success, for they had leaked 42 in the first 15 balls courtesy an eight-ball 25 from Sunil Narine.
During the break, Bhuvneshwar, whose end-over bowling skills had come under scanner recently, said: “I wouldn’t mind getting hit for two sixes and then getting him out. I wanted to mix it up, bowl one yorker, a slower one, a bouncer.”
Hyderabad had other plans also, to tackle Russell: hand the ball to Rashid Khan. However, their duel lasted only one delivery, in the 18th over. “We had planned that I will bowl two overs at him since he had been hitting the pacers so much,” Rashid said.
Asked about the issue of promoting Russell up the order, Kolkata skipper Dinesh Karthik said: “He had about five overs when he walked in. Even if he had played 10 deliveries, he would have made an impact. They key is that our top-order sets it up for him. There have been no complaints from him about the batting part of it. He has a set role and he is trying to play according to that.”
While defending the total, it proved to be a comedy of errors from Kolkata. They dropped three easy chances offered by Bairstow and Warner. The openers posted the team’s second-most productive powerplay by hammering 72 to set the tone for Hyderabad.
Brief scores: Kolkata 159/8 in 20 ovs (Lynn 51, Rinku 30, Ahmed 3/33) lost to Hyderabad 161/1 in 15 ovs (Bairstow 80 n.o, Warner 67).
