Key Points

Russell played an unbeaten knock of 57 runs from 25 balls, which was laced with four boundaries and six maximums in his innings. The right-hand batter scored these runs at a whopping strike rate of 228. He was awarded the Player of the Match award for this exceptional performance.

Speaking at the post-match presentation about his performance, the 37-year-old player said, "We all know the importance of this game. We had four games to go, and it was like four finals. We were happy with our performance and the win. I had time to go, so I was not worried about the dot balls I faced. It was a difficult wicket to go out and start hitting, happy that I was able to hit boundaries at the end, and Rinku also got a few away at the end. The scoreboard is the best indication, you have to evaluate the situations, which bowlers you can see off, which bowlers you can target. When I look at the scorecard and I see five overs, I see 30 balls and think if I can face 15 off those balls, I can get 40 runs with my power."

Andre Russell completes 1000 IPL runs at Eden Gardens cricket ground, Kolkata on Sunday in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Rajasthan Royals. Russell made his first fifty of this season.

He became the third batter to do so after Former KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (1,407 runs) and Robin Uthappa (1,159 runs). Russell has breached the 1000-run mark in 41 innings.

Russell made his IPL debut in 2012; since then, he has been a constant part of KKR. In 138 matches, he has scored 2613 runs at a strike rate of 174, including 12 half-centuries. He has also taken 123 wickets.

Coming to the match, KKR won the toss and opted to bat first.

After Sunil Narine was dismissed cheaply, a half-century stand between skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (35 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and a six) steadied the ship. A 61-run stand for the fourth wicket between Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 in 31 balls, with five fours) and Andre Russell (57* in 25 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) gave the innings much-needed speed. Russell and Rinku (19* in six balls, with a four and two sixes) took KKR to 206/4 in their 20 overs.

Jofra Archer, Yudhvir Singh, Riyan, and Maheesh Theekshana each took wickets.

During the run-chase of 207 runs, RR was 71/5, but a 92-run stand between skipper Riyan Parag (95 in 45 balls, with six fours and eight sixes) and Shimron Hetmyer (29 in 23 balls, with a four and six) gave them a massive chance. Despite fireworks from Shubham Dubey (25* in 14 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Jofra Archer (12 in eight balls, with a four), RR fell short by a run, finishing at 205/8 in their 20 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy (2/32), Harshit Rana (2/41) and Moeen Ali (2/43) were the top wicket-takers for KKR.

- ANI