Follow UsKolkata Knight Riders (KKR) fast bowler Tim Southee showers praise on all-rounder Andre Russell, following his match-winning efforts with both bat and ball against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Pune on Saturday (May 14).
Coming in at 83 for 4 at the end of 10 overs, Russell scored an unbeaten 28-ball 49 to propel them to 177 and then returned with three wickets with the ball, to help KKR to a 54-run victory.
With this big win, KKR are still in with a chance to make the playoffs and are currently in sixth position with 12 points from 13 games.
“He has been tremendous throughout the whole tournament. He has been good for such a long period of time not only with the bat, but with the ball as well,” Southee said at the post-match press conference.
“There are few guys around the world that can do special things and Andre Russell is one of those guys. He thrives on those moments and more times than not, he turns in with the performance with the team needs.”
Russell and Sam Billings (34) put on 63 for the sixth wicket to take them to a formidable total. But Southee was confident as batting becomes difficult in the second innings.
“Their partnership was crucial. We got off to a pretty good start but then we lost a few wickets. We needed to have two experienced guys, two overseas players coming together and grab the game for us and got us a competitive total, probably one that was above par,” Southee, who finished with figures of 2 for 23, said.
“We played here a couple of days ago. So, we knew that the wicket was going to be same, going to be tougher in the second innings.”
KKR have one more match left in the group stage – against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) – at the DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai on Wednesday (May 18).