IPL 2019: Top 5 Batting knocks of the Season

#2 Andre Russell's 13-ball-48 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Russell turned the game on its head

Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders has always promised some exciting moments. The first of the two matchups this season was played at RCB's home ground the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Batting first RCB set a mammoth total of 205 runs on the board courtesy of a half-century each by star batsmen Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers.

KKR started off the chase well and were 94/2 at the halfway mark but tight spells by Chahal and Negi restricted them to just 40 runs in the next 5 overs leaving them with 72 runs required off the next 30 balls at a required run rate of 14.4.

The 16th over saw KKR lose the well-set Nitish Rana to the wily Chahal and the next batsman in was last match's savior Andre Russell. In the next eight balls, Russell could face just 2 legal deliveries for 1 run while on the other end his captain perished trying a shot too many.

At the end of the 17th over, there were two new batsmen in and the equation read 53 runs required off 18 balls.

Siraj was given the responsibility of bowling the first of the last three overs, the first two balls were swing-and-miss by Russell but he smoked the next one over deep mid-wicket for a maximum and to make matters worse for RCB it was a waist-high no-ball by Siraj, his second of the match and hence was ruled ineligible from bowling furthermore in the match.

Stoinis was picked to bowl the remaining over, Russell was in the mood now and he deposited the first two balls from Stoinis into the stands as KKR collected 23 off the 18th.

With 30 required off 12, Virat went his most experienced bowler in XI for the 19th, Tim Southee. Shubman Gill took a single off the first ball as Russell took strike for the next 5 match-deciding balls.

First up, Southee bowled it in the slot and Russell clobbered him over deep-mid wicket for a six, he followed it up with a short and wide ball which the KKR all-rounder deposited over third-man for another maximum.

Southee tried to counter by attempting a yorker, which ends up as low full toss and Russell obliged by muscling it over long-on for another maximum.

Southee steamed in for the penultimate ball and directed it over Russell's head, who arched his back and ramped it over the keeper for a four.

In a last ditch-attempt to salvage something out of the over, Southee attempted another yorker but missed it marginally and Russell blasted it over long-off for another six as KKR collected 29 off the 19th.

Russell finished with 48 runs off 13 balls with seven sixes and one four at a strike rate of 369.23 as KKR ran off victors with five balls to spare.