(CMC) – Twenty20 World Cup-bound all-rounder Andre Russell produced a cameo with the bat and returned to grab a brace of wickets as the Kolkata Knight Riders stifled the Mumbai Indians to pull off an 18-run victory and qualify for the Indian Premier League playoffs yesterday.
Sent in at Eden Gardens, KKR struggled initially before finding their footing to gather 157 for seven in a contest reduced to 16 overs per side, with Venkatesh Iyer top-scoring with 42 from 21 deliveries and Nitish Rana lashing 33 from 23 balls.
Russell then arrived at number five to punch a 14-ball 24 with two fours and two sixes to help KKR finish strongly.
In reply, Ishan Kishan struck 40 from 22 balls to give Mumbai a flying start in a 65-run, opening off 41 deliveries with Rohit Sharma (19). Tilak Varma belted a 17-ball 32, but Russell weighed in with two for 34 from four overs of medium fast, while leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2-17) and pacer Harshit Rana (2-34) claimed two wickets apiece to hamper the Mumbai run chase.
While off-spinner Sunil Narine went wicket-less, his three overs yielded only 21 runs, leaving Mumbai with a difficult asking rate of nearly 13 over the last six overs.
The victory kept KKR at the at the top of the pile with 18 points, two clear of the Rajasthan Royals, who have played a game less. In-form Narine suffered a rare failure when he was bowled by pacer Jasprit Bumrah (2-39) for a first-ball ‘duck’ at the start of the second over, leaving KKR stuttering on ten for two.
However, Venkatesh struck half-dozen fours and two sixes in a 30-run, third wicket stand with captain Shreyas Iyer (7) before adding 37 for the fourth with Nitish.
Russell then dominated a 39-run, fifth wicket stand with Nitish to help the innings get beyond the 150-run mark.
Needing a strong start, Mumbai got it from Ishan, who blasted five fours and two sixes to put KKR on the backfoot.
Narine broke the stand when he deceived Ishan and got him to hole out to mid-wicket in the seventh over, triggering a slide that saw five wickets tumble for 27 runs. Russell struck telling blows when he accounted for the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav for 11 and Tim David without scoring to ensure there was no comeback for Mumbai, who remain one from bottom on eight points.