IPL 2019, KKR vs SRH: Andre Russell's power hitting takes Kolkata to their first win

Thanks to Andre Russell power hitting, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad in a high scoring thriller played at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik won the toss and decided to field first. SRH openers David Warner and Jonny Bairstow gave the team a flying start scoring 54 runs in the first six overs. Both batsmen continued to attack the KKR bowlers. David Warner, who made a comeback after one year, looked in sensational form and reached his fifty off 31 balls.

Piyush Chawla got the breakthrough by dismissing Jonny Bairstow for 39 runs. David Warner and Jonny Bairstow added 118 in 12.5 overs. Andre Russell dismissed David Warner for a brilliant 85 off 53 balls. KKR bowlers made a strong comeback to restrict SRH to 181 for 3 in 20 overs. Vijay Shankar made a quick fire 40 off 24 balls.

Chasing the target of 182 runs to win, KKR lost an early wicket of Chris Lynn. Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana steadied the innings and took the team to 47 for 1 at the end of 6 overs. Siddarth Kaul dismissed Robin Uthappa for 35 runs and the duo added 80 runs for the second wicket. Nitish Rana reached his fifty off 35 balls and was dismissed by Rashid Khan for 68 runs.

Andre Russell came to the crease and stunned the SRH bowlers with some brilliant hitting. With 34 runs required off 12 balls, Russell took 21 runs off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's over. Shubman Gill hit two sixes off Shakib Al Hasan in the last over to give KKR a stunning six-wicket win.

Andre Russell remained not out on 49 off 14 balls while Shubman Gill remained not out on 18 off 10 balls.

Brief scores: KKR 183 for 4 in 19.4 overs (Nitish Rana 68, Andre Russell 49*, Rashid Khan 1/26) beat SRH 181 for 3 in 20 overs (David Warner 85, Vijay Shankar 40*, Andre Russell 2/32) by 6 wickets.

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