Image Credit: Hindustan Times

The brawl between Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings at Eden Gardens was not easy at all. This match was in the name of KKR. The winning four came off Rinku Singh's bat in KKR's victory, but the one who made the match was Andre Russell. However, how did Andre Russell, who was chained to failure in the last 10 matches, do this? So the reason behind this is Captain Nitish Rana.

If the captain of KKR had not woken up the sleeping Andre Russell, then perhaps the Nawab of victory at Eden would have been Punjab, not Kolkata. Because even Nitish Rana himself had accepted this thing after the match that batting on this pitch was not easy. According to him, the target of 160-165 runs was also big, then here 180 runs were to be scored.

Image Credit: Mint

Nitish Rana wakes up the sleeping Andre Russell!

But, in the most important match, the bat of KKR's most explosive batsman went on. And, it so happened that the Punjab Kings were battered. Now the question is what did Nitish Rana say to Andre Russell that the fire inside him suddenly flared up?

According to Nitish Rana, “We have played 10 matches this season. Andre Russell did nothing in this. But we knew that the best would come out of him. We backed him and said that you have done a lot for the team. We trust you. We know you can win 100 percent of matches.

Hit 3 sixes in the 19th over, opened the thread of Sam Karan!

This statement of Nitish Rana only had the effect which wreaked havoc on Punjab. In the last 2 overs, Kolkata had to score 26 runs to win. But, 20 of these runs were taken by Andre Russell in the 19th over itself.

Image Credit: The Indian Express

Andre Russell opened the thread by hitting Sam Karan in this over. With the 3 sixes he hit in his entire innings, he scored in just this one over. The result was that when this over was over, the victory, which was earlier in the Punjab camp, had been transferred to Kolkata.

An old glimpse of Andre Russell for the first time in IPL 2023

Andre Russell scored 42 runs in 23 balls at a strike rate of over 182 against Punjab. His destructive innings included 3 sixes and as many fours. For the first time in IPL 2023, people got a glimpse of the old Andre Russell, which is a good sign for KKR from the perspective of the playoff race.