Shreyas Iyer was a happy man after KKR thumped Punjab Kings in game 8 of the Indian premier league at the Wankhede Stadium. At one stage KKR themselves were struggling with the scorecard reading 52/4 as Rahul Chahar bowled a double wicket maiden. But from here on game turned in just one over thanks to Andre Russell.
“We were stunned by Punjab’s approach. We didn’t expect them to come so hard at us in the initial overs after losing an early wicket. But that’s what I looked to do as well. We got early wickets in the powerplay. My plan was to keep my best bowlers for their hard-hitters. And that’s why I kept Varun and Sunil for late. They made my job easy. They come out with their own strategies. They know what their plans are for the batsmen.”
“They know what they are doing. To be honest, it was great to see Russell hitting. It was Russell Muscle. Umesh told me that he was getting older, but I told him that he was getting fitter. I see him wherever I go, at the gym, and he is working very hard. I know how to get the work done from him, and he has been a wonderful colleague,” Iyer said.
Umesh (4/23), coming into the season with just two games over two IPL seasons and going unsold initially at the auction, produced career-best T20 figures to help KKR dismiss Punjab for a below par 137 in 18.2 overs.
It was supposed to be a straight forward chase but Rahul Chahar raised Punjab’s hopes with a double wicket maiden to reduced KKR to 51 for four.
However, Russell (70 not out off 31 balls) came out in the middle and changed the game with his barrage of sixes, eight in total, to make it a cakewalk in just 14.3 overs. He smashed three sixes off Odean Smith in an over that went for 30 runs.
