The start of the fourteenth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) was very promising for the bowlers in the tournament. It was just the opening game of the IPL 2021 season where RCB’s Harshal Patel grabbed the first 5-fer of the season, putting the brakes on Mumbai India’s run-scoring and finishing with 4 wickets just in the final over of the game. Read all about that bowling effort here.
Just a few days later on 13 April 2021, we have Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Mumbai Indians in Match 5 of IPL 2021 and it’s the same team batting first and a very similar story again. The top three batsmen did well for Mumbai but the Kolkata bowlers started a collapse which ended in Mumbai being bowled out for only 152. The destructor-in-chief? Andre Russell!
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Having played for KKR over the last few seasons in the IPL, Russell has suffered with injuries and fitness issues but he’s always fought through them all. In IPL 2021 too, this was his second game and in both games, he only bowled 2 overs each, both times at the death. He bowled two overs (18th and 20th) and completely turned around the innings, finishing with his best T20 figures and maiden fifer as well.
It was just the second ball of his spell that he first struck, getting fellow West Indian Kieron Pollard and that’s when the collapse began, getting Mumbai to 125/6 in 17.2 overs! The very next ball, he got South African bowler Marco Jansen for a golden duck, finishing with a couple of wickets in his first over and we knew the last over was also being reserved for him after a great 18th over!
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Since he missed the hat-trick in the last over, he gave himself another chance in the 20th over, dismissing Krunal Pandya off 19.3 and Jasprit Bumrah on 19.4, getting yet another chance at the hat-trick. However, it wasn’t to be and after Trent Boult managed to get a couple of runs on the fifth ball of the over, Dre Russ dismissed him as well, sending him back to the pavillion for 2, as he completed a maiden IPL and T20 fifer – 5/15!
He joined a few other bowlers in a unique record of needing the least number of balls to get to a 5-wicket haul in T20s (12 balls) and will be super delighted with this effort. He immediately kissed the badge after his 5-fer, showing his loyalty to the KKR franchise. It however turned out to be in a losing cause as KKR couldn’t make 31 runs in the last 30 balls, registering their first loss of IPL 2021! For similar updates, make sure you stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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