KKR vs KXIP Man of the Match: Who was awarded Man of the Match in KKR vs KXIP?

KKR vs KXIP Man of the Match: Kolkata Knight Riders star all-rounder was declared the Man of the Match in sixth match of IPL 2019.

During the sixth match of the ongoing 12th season of the Indian Premier League between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab at Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Kings XI Punjab by 28 runs to register their second consecutive victory in IPL 2019.

After being put in to bat by Kings XI captain Ravichandran Ashwin, the hosts put on board a colossal 218-4 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. After all-rounder Sunil Narine‘s initial blitz, Kolkata were powered by individual half-centuries from their No. 3 and No. 4 in Robin Uthappa (67*) and Nitish Rana (63) respectively.

Who was awarded Man of the Match in KKR vs KXIP

However, it was all-rounder Andre Russell’s freakish innings which saw them registering a formidable total on the scoreboard. Coming in to bat at No. 4 in the 15th over, Russell failed to make the required connect with the ball initially. A soaring yorker from Kings XI Punjab fast bowler Mohammed Shami saw the 30-year old cricketer getting bowled.

Just when Russell was walking back to the pavilion, the umpires called him back for it was a no-ball. Not that the bowler had overstepped, but Punjab captain Ravichandran Ashwin hadn’t realized that six of his fielders were outside the 30-yard circle. It was later known that debutant Varun Chakravarthy was the extra fielder outside the circle.

Andre Russell dominates at will

Not looking back since then, Russell scored a couple of fours and sixes each in the next over bowled by Andre Tye. Having conceded only seven runs in his first two over, Tye leaked as many as 22 runs in his third over.

Coming on the back of a match-winning whirlwind partnership alongside Shubman Gill against Sunrisers Hyderabad, Russell then took on Shami. In the penultimate over of the innings, Russell hit a four and three sixes to accumulate 25 runs from the over.

Before getting out in the last over off Tye, Russell acted as the focal point in the damage done by the KKR batsmen. He ended up scoring 48 (17) with the help of three fours and five sixes as Knight Riders scored 55 runs in the last three overs.

With the ball in hand, Russell dismissed a couple of Kings XI batsmen in Chris Gayle (20) and Sarfaraz Khan (13). Standing tall on his potential with both the bat and ball, Russell registered bowling figures of 3-0-21-2. Having made a stellar impact in the match, Russell was declared the Man of the Match.

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