Andre Russell Shubman Gill
Shubman Gill and Andre Russell after KKR defeated SRH at Eden Gardens on March 24, 2019.Kolkata Knight Riders Instagram

At one point 53 runs were required off 16 balls and Russell then took over to hit 7 sixes and a boundary to finish the game off. With one run left to get in the last over, Russell sprinted through for the winning run as if he were a Jamaican sprinter and then punched his chest a few times. 

It was a miracle and Russell is making it a habit to script miracles for KKR. On the night, the big Jamaican scored 48 runs from 13 balls. To recount Russell's innings since the 18th over, it was - dot ball, dot ball, six runs, six runs, six runs, one run, six runs, six runs, six runs, four runs, six runs. 

Earlier in the evening, Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to bowl first. Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers helped the home team reach 205 and for most of the chase, it looked as though it would be enough for RCB to notch up their first victory of the tournament. But Andre Russell thought otherwise. 

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Andre Russell.Reuters

Russell was naturally delighted after the match and said that although it was an improbable situation, he was confident. "I was confident when I went out to bat. DK was telling me to take a few balls to see how the pitch is behaving. I was watching in the dugout on TV and had a fair idea. When you need 68 off 20-odd balls, it doesn't happen everyday," said Russell.

"Need to put your body on the line. The nature of T20 is such that one over can change the momentum. That's why I never give up. A part of me was saying that the runs needed were too much but I wanted to fight and eventually, we won with five balls spare. The support is good from the boys and I am in a good space so that I can express myself. No ground is big enough for me I guess, I just trust my power. Hand-eye coordination is the key (for low full tosses) as they aren't easy to hit. I try short arm jabs as extending the arms can put you in trouble. Can't explain much, rather show that on the field," Russell concluded with a wide grin on his face. 

This is how Twitter reacted to the carnage.

 Virat Kohli was obviously displeased in the post-match presentation ceremony. "There is no guessing there (about where they lost), the last 4 four overs that we bowled was just unacceptable. We needed to be more clever, nothing came off and we just cracked under pressure. That's been our story this season so far," said Kohli.

"If you bowl with not enough bravery in the crucial overs, it's always going to be difficult against power-hitters like Russell. I wasn't really happy getting out at that moment, could've got 20-25 more. AB didn't get much strike in the end. I thought the runs were enough on the board, we didn't have enough composure. If you can't defend 75 in the last four overs, then I don't know if you can defend 100. We can have a bit of chat about what went wrong, apart from that nothing much you can say. I don't think talking enough helps all the time. You need to give the guys some space and come back stronger in the next game. It's been a disappointing season so far, but we are still optimistic about our chances. We just have to believe in ourselves that we can turn things around," an extremely disappointed Kohli concluded.