April 14 (India Today) – Kolkata Knight Riders’ Andre Russell took his maiden 5-wicket haul in T20 cricket during the team’s second match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 against Mumbai Indians in Chennai on Tuesday.
Andre Russell took 5 for 15 in 2 overs as KKR bowled MI out for 152. These are now the best bowling figures ever for KKR in the history of the Indian Premier League. Sunil Narine had taken 5 for 19 vs Punjab Kings in 2012 while Varun Chakravarthy had taken 5 for 20 against Delhi Capitals in 2020.
Andre Russell now also has the best bowling figures in IPL history in Chennai.
On Friday, Royal Challengers Bangalore bowler Harshal Patel had become the first-ever bowler to take a 5-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians. Incidentally, that was also his first 5-wicket haul in T20 cricket.
Best bowling figures against Mumbai Indians in IPL:
5/15 Andre Russell Chennai 2021*
5/27 Harshal Patel Chennai 2021
4/6 Rohit Sharma Centurion 2009
Russell credited ‘behind the scenes hard work’ for his maiden five-wicket haul in T20 cricket, saying that he was happy to restrict the formidable Mumbai Indians to 152. Russell pointed out that bowling against Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard is always difficult and he was happy to dismiss them.
Russell bowled the 18th and the 20th over in the first innings and picked up the wickets of Kieron Pollard (5), Krunal Pandya (15), Marco Jansen (0), Rahul Chahar (8) and Jasprit Bumrah (0) to dent the five-time champions after they were asked to bat first by KKR skipper Eoin Morgan.
“I have been working very hard behind the scenes, taking the responsibility. There’s a possibility of going for runs (in the death over), but there’s always a chance to take wickets,” Andre Russell told Star Sports.
“I always keep stretching in the field and jogging around, you got to be ready in the 18th over.
“Bowling against Hardik and Pollard is always a difficult thing, happy we could restrict them. It’s always good to get Polly (Pollard) out early, we all know what he can do,” Russell added.
