Russell-mania, the ultimate thrill ride

"The Ultimate Thrill Ride"

64,900 people witnessed it. Wrestlemania 33 was a super hit, and to date, fans are dreaming of how big and successful the event was. 

Seven years later, history repeated itself. Nearly 65,000 people witnessed it, and Russell-mania was a blockbuster. 

Andre Russell is a bonafide superstar; talking about what he can do is almost as useless as e in queue. When he hits, the ball doesn’t stay; it travels to the orbit. 

Kolkata Knight Riders were in a good place, and then they weren’t. Six overs were still left in the innings, and only four wickets were left, but one of them was Russell. The 35-year-old’s record against Sunrisers Hyderabad is a blockbuster, with a strike rate of 160. 

On March 23 (Saturday), he decided that a strike rate of 160 wasn’t enough. Kolkata were in quite a tricky position at 119/6. At the end of the 15th over, Russell was still on two off five deliveries. Just 30 balls, how much could they score? 

50 more? 60, maybe if they press the accelerator? Okay, 80 seems like a stretch. But not for Russell, and certainly not today. The 35-year-old started the clash with 195 sixes behind his back in the Indian Premier League (IPL). 

In the span of just five deliveries, 195 became 198. 

Then, he did what he knows best: shattered all records. Russell smacked the ball so hard that one of them went missing. 

Sunrisers bore the brunt. They know Russell better than most other franchises. The 2016 IPL-winning franchise then introduced their best bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Even his introduction meant nothing as Russell continued hammering. 

The cameras could only pan into the stands as the ball kept travelling to the boundary. Russell was on 20 off 11 at one stage, and the next thing you know, he was already raising his bat for a half-century. 

65,000 people couldn’t care less if the six he hit to get to his half-century was an edge. All they could care was that the ball became one of them, crashing into the stands. Till then, most of his sixes in that knock were all leg-side before he put on over the off-side. 

He might have hit a 102m six till then, and he might have hit multiple sixes, but this one six left him extremely impressed. He stood there. He even looked at the screen a few times and then patted himself on the back.

A delivery later, he repeated it. It was only a four on this occasion, but it was yet another hit through the off-side. 62 off 23, three fours and seven sixes, Russell-mania was a BLOCKBUSTER. 

He broke records like they didn’t exist. On Saturday, the all-rounder smashed seven sixes, the joint fourth-most in an IPL innings for him, with a strike-rate of 256. If you think that was it, he also smashed 200 sixes for Kolkata, joining an elite club. 

All of this is at No.8, a position he isn’t accustomed to. And Kolkata scored 85 runs in the last five overs. It wasn’t even a stretch for Russell. 

Roman Reigns beat The Undertaker in the main event by pinfall. Here, Russell beat Cummins in the main event by Skyfall (sixes). 

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