How KKR duo Russell-Rinku threw Punjab Kings under the bus

KKR’s Andre Russell (right) and Rinku Singh during the match against PBKS in Kolkata on Monday. Pic/BCCI

The Andre Russell his fans were looking for, showed up on Monday night to keep Kolkata Knight Riders in the hunt for a playoff berth. The burly Jamaican, dogged by below par performances for much of IPL-16, lit up the Eden Gardens as he muscled three sixes in the 19th over to pave the way for KKR's five-wicket victory over Punjab Kings.

"Honestly, I was just thinking about getting three boundaries from that over. I was trying to make sure that we go into the last over with the least runs required as Arshdeep [Singh] is a very good death bowler and two-three dot balls can change the game. Six off six was ideal for us in the last over," Russell elaborated on his big bat-slapping celebrations after square-cutting Sam Curran for his third six.

Arshdeep's final over

It was just as well as Arshdeep delivered a tight final over, the only blemish surfacing in the last ball as an attempted yorker went all wrong and a calm Rinku Singh dispatched the full toss to the backward square-leg boundary for the winning runs. This, after Russell was run out off the previous delivery while trying to steal a near-impossible single. His 23-ball innings produced 42 and was studded with three boundaries besides those three sixes in the penultimate over.

Kolkata were in a spot of bother at 124-4, chasing 180 for victory, when Russell and Rinku, put on an aggressive partnership of 54 off 27 balls.

"With any other batter I'm not sure if I would've run [that single]. I would back myself to get the job done, but when you have someone like Rinku at the other end, I was confident," Russell revealed, going on to point out what a special player and person the left-hander from Aligarh is: "I told him ‘we need you at this point' and he said ‘big man, no worries'. So, happy days."

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All praise for Rinku

Rinku remained unbeaten on a 10-ball 21 with two boundaries and a six. Russell attributes Rinku's consistency to the calm he brings to the middle. "When you're a batter, you have to have an open mind and be relaxed. Rinku gets into a position from where he can face any delivery and have a shot for it. That's the key to his success. His technique is very simple and I've been encouraging him to stay humble. I'm very happy for him. He is a good friend of mine, a very funny guy. I love him as a brother."

Punjab's bowling coach Charl Langeveldt admitted that even an underperforming Russell remained a big threat. "He's always a massive player, a game-changer. We wanted to keep him quiet and tried to bowl outside his hitting zone.

PKBS's plan for Russell

So, how did Russell respond to this ploy?

"No human being is perfect. I know that even though they have their plans, if they come close to me, it's in my zone, but if it's out of reach then it's a wide delivery. So, I stand in [line with the] off-stump to counter that challenge. But then, you can't stand there expecting every ball to be wide," explained Russell, referring to Sam Curran's initial leg-stump attack in the 19th over.

Rana fined Rs 12 lakh

KKR captain Nitish Rana was fined Rs 12 lakh after his team maintained a slow over-rate during their Indian Premier League match against Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens on Monday.

It was his team's first offence of the season under the IPL code of conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences, the league said in a statement.