Andre Russell spoilt David Warner’s dream return to the Indian Premier League (IPL) with an unbeaten 19-ball 49 as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by six wickets in their campaign opener at the Eden Gardens, here on Sunday.
Russell (4×4, 4×6) came in to bat in the 16th over with KKR needing 68 off 27 balls chasing 182 for victory just after a well-settled Nitish Rana (68; 47b 8×4 3×6) was removed by Rashid Khan.
Rana was sent to open the innings as Sunil Narine faced fitness issues.
Russell, a veteran of T20s, took Siddharth Kaul for 19 runs in the 18th over, followed by 21 off Sunrisers stand-in skipper Bhuvneshwar Kumar, to bring the equation down to 13 off the last over.