Piyush Chawla: Russell's batting was unreal

Andre Russell hammered a ruthless 13-ball 48 including seven sixes and a boundary as KKR waltzed to its target with five balls to spare.

Andre Russell was at his devastating best as KKR
handed RCB its fifth straight loss in this edition
of the IPL. - K. MURALI KUMAR

Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Piyush Chawla termed Andre Russell's batting 'unreal' after the West Indies all-rounder scored an unbeaten 48 off 13 balls to guide his team to a stunning victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday.

"We all know what kind of a batsman he is. This is the fourth game where he has played an innings like this.

"The way he batted today was unreal. It was a treat to watch from outside for us," he said. Russell hit a mind-boggling seven sixes and a boundary to hand RCB its fifth consecutive loss.

How does one stop Russell? His team-mate Chawla had some suggestions. "Well, I don't bowl much to him at the nets. Even if am bowling, I make sure I bowl either wide of the off-stump or on his leg so that he doesn't hit straight."

RCB's Pawan Negi admitted the team was hard done by Russell's batting after enjoying the upper hand until the 17th over of KKR's innings. "Our batting was good. The bowling was going well till the 17th over. After that the no-ball happened. But Andre Russell batted really well and credit should go to him," Negi noted.

On the high occurrence of dropped catches - there were four on Friday — Negi insisted the players were putting their full efforts but denied that dew was a contributing factor.

"There was no pressure. Catches get dropped.. it happens but it happens in matches. We keep trying to put in a 100 per cent effort all the time. We train hard to take good catches, but it happens," he said.

Royal Challengers Bangalore, still in search of its first win after five matches, will next face Delhi Capitals at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Source : https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/ipl/ipl-2019-kkr-andre-russell-piyush-chawla-rcb-pawan-negi/article26754521.ece