Russell blames entire team as Kolkata lose to Gujarat by seven wickets
Russell made no attempts to hide his disappointments in the mid-innings interview and said he was not happy at all with the total that his side ended up with on a placid batting track. "Looking at the total we've got, I'm not happy at all," Russell, who was dismissed off the last ball of the match by Mohammed Shami, said.
Andre Russell has not been in the best of forms in IPL 2023. He registered four single-digit scores in his 8 outings and had a highest score of 38*. In the match against Gujarat Titans, he threatened by starting with sixes against Rashid Khan but was not able to get the grand, at least of the kind that is expected of him. The hard-hitting West Indies cricketer ended up with 34 off 19 balls as Kolkata Knight Riders finished with 179 for 7 against GT at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Russell made no attempts to hide his disappointments in the mid-innings interview and said he was not happy at all with the total that his side ended up with on a placid batting track. "Looking at the total we've got, I'm not happy at all," Russell, who was dismissed off the last ball of the match by Mohammed Shami, said.
When asked what total would have made him, the KKR star said something around 200 would have been an ideal score on this pitch, especially after the start they got. "I think this is a 190-200 wicket so we are about 20 short. We've only got ourselves to blame," he added.
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Returning to the side after Jason Roy pulled out because of a back spasm, Rahmanullah Gurbaz struck his second fifty of the season as he smashed seven sixes and five fours en route to his 39-ball knock.
But once rookie Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmed (4-0-21-2) dismissed him for 81 with compatriot Rashid Khan completing a well-judged catch, KKR didn't make good use of the final few overs as Mohammed Shami (3/33 in 4 overs) and Irishman Josh Little (2/25 in 4 overs) did play their part to perfection.
At 135/5, KKR had the firepower of Andre Russell and Rinku Singh with 28 balls to go. But they could not get past the 200-mark, which always gives a team a psychological edge.
Rinku became Noor's second victim, while 'birthday boy' Russell could not express himself fully with GT bowlers doing well to restrict him for a 19-ball 34 not out (2x4, 3x6).
KKR managed just 45 runs and lost three wickets in the final five overs.
Russell's fears turned out to be true as GT knocked off the target with relative ease in the 18th over with 7 wickets in their bank. GT never looked in any real trouble in their 180-run chase with opener Shubman Gill getting them off to a good start. There was a brief period when Gil (49) and Hardik Pandya (25) fell in successive overs as KKR made a comeback in the match but once Vijay Shankar (51* off 24) and David Miller (32* off 18) got stuck in, there was no stopping the defending champions, who registered their fourth away win in a row.
GT rose to the top of the table with this big win.
