Andre Russell finished it in style for Kolkata Knight Riders with back-to-back sixes as his side beat Punjab Kings by 6 wickets with 

33 balls to spare in the Indian Premier League game at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

Batting first, Mayank Agarwal-led Punjab were all out for 137. The side enjoyed a good powerplay that yielded 62 for 3 in six overs. Sri Lankan Bhanuka Rajapaksa (31 off 9)looked in sensational touch, hitting three fours and as many sixes, mostly towards the mid-wicket region, leaving the spectators in awe. 

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Veteran pacer Umesh Yadav continued his impressive run, taking 4 for 23. He provided the breakthrough early in the game, removing Mayank Agarwal.

In reply, KKR chased the target in 14.3 overs with Russell smashing 70 off 31 balls with two fours and eight sixes.

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Praising Russel for his deadly batting, Agarwal said, “We didn’t bat well enough. That’s where it started. We showed some real fight with the ball initially but then Dre Russ came in and got going. Credit to him for that. It was a 170-ish wicket. I thought we started off well but couldn’t capitalise, a few soft dismissals. But a game like this at the start of the tournament is fine. I thought the bowlers pulled the game back really well, to get 4 wickets for 50-odd runs. But Russell took the game away from us. A lot of positives for us to take away.”

Brief Scores: Punjab Kings: 137 all out in 18.2 overs (Bhanuka Rajapaksa 31, Kagiso Rabada 25; Umesh Yadav 4/23, Tim Southee 2/36).

KKR 141 for 4 in 14.3 overs (Andre Russell 70 no off 31 balls)