All-round Russell, a bonus on the field for KKR as IPL final looms

KOLKATA Knight Riders' pacer Mitchell Starc might have walked away with all praise and deservedly so given his deadly opening spell against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.

- FIROZ MIRZA

But there were others who should be credited for the thumping victory as the two-time champions made it to the final for the fourth time in 17 years.

Be it their opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz or batters Venkatesh Iyer and Shreyas Iyer or Andre Russell the fielder and the bowler. Starc had sent back Travis Head in the first over after SRH opted to bat but Abhishek Sharma's threat was still looming over KKR as it was the latter who punctured Punjab Kings bowling attack the other day to guide team to safety while chasing 200 plus target in Hyderabad. Unperturbed with the early departure of his opening partner, Abhishek tried to go aerial the next over, the second of the innings bowled by Vaibhav Arora but could not middle it properly. Russell at covers leaped and managed to get both hands at the ball, plucking it out of the thin air. The celebration said it all.