Andre Russell’s extra-terrestrial effort with the bat may have propelled Kolkata Knight Riders to three out of its four wins in the Indian Premier League so far, but the two-time champion side will be keen to use its untapped resources in its forthcoming matches.
The burly West Indian has grown in stature because of his explosive batting. Russell has emerged as the highest run-getter for his team and has hit the maximum sixes (25), most runs in an over (27) and is the only one to have a 200-plus strike rate (212.39).
The 30-year-old’s fiery performances have dwarfed the efforts of other KKR batsmen such as Nitish Rana, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa and Karthik. The team is yet to derive the best out of Shubman Gill, though.
Showcasing his all-round abilities, Russell has picked up five wickets, the most by a KKR bowler.
Injury scare
As KKR, which lost its last match to Chennai Super Kings due to batting failure, returns home to meet Delhi Capitals at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Friday, it will hope that the West Indian, nursing an injury, remains available for the tussle.
KKR’s biggest concern will be the below-par showing of its bowlers, who have taken only 21 wickets in six outings. The spin trio of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine as well as the pacers have not made much of an impact.
Since the Super Over-finish in Delhi between the two sides went in favour of DC, thanks to Kagiso Rabada’s immaculate yorkers, the clash at the Eden will be a keenly-watched affair.
Packed with fine batsmen like Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, DC will look forward to post another tall total.
DC coach Ricky Ponting said, in case the pitch wore a tinge of green, then the pace quartet of Rabada (the most successful bowler with 11 scalps), Chris Morris, Trent Boult and Ishant Sharma might get preference.
With Cricket Association of Bengal president Sourav Ganguly sitting in the DC dugout, the touring team will be encouraged to beat KKR and its partisan crowd at the Eden.
The Teams (From):
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (capt), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, KC Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj.
Delhi Capitals: Shreyas Iyer(capt), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant(wk), Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Harshal Patel, Manjot Kalra, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro.
Match starts at 8 pm.
