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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star allrounder Andre Russell showered praise on bowler Harshit Rana and said that his body language was on point in the final over during their clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday at the Eden Gardens.
While speaking after the end of the match on Saturday, Russell said that Rana's performance during the last over of the game showed a lot about his character. Russell revealed that before the start of the last over Rana came to him and asked if he could bowl in the last over. "His (Rana's) body language was on point in the last over. He wanted the ball. Shows a lot about his character. He told me he wanted the last over, he claimed it and did deliver for us. First ball went for six but he came back strong and get the job done," Russell said. While talking about his place in the KKR squad in 2014, the Caribbean added that he tried to make himself use for the franchise. "At the start I was on the bench early on and just tried to make myself useful and since I have been a permanent fixture. I am just happy to keep contributing. This franchise means a lot to me. They've showed faith and confidence in me. What I did tonight is just to say keep supporting," he added. Recapping the match, put to bat first by SRH, KKR was reduced to 51/4 in 7.3 overs. However, a half-century by Phil Salt (54 in 40 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and an explosive knock by Ramandeep Singh (35 in 17 balls, with a four and four sixes) kept team's run rate just fine, but still they were struggling at 119/6 in 13.5 overs. An explosive 67-run partnership followed between Andre Rusell (64* in 25 balls, with three fours and seven sixes) and Rinku Singh (23 in 15 balls, with three fours), powering KKR to 208/7 in 20 overs. In the chase of 209 runs, SRH started off well with a 60-run opening stand between Mayank Agarwal (32 in 21 balls with four boundaries and a six) and Abhishek Sharma (32 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes). The team lost their way and was soon 145/5 in 16.5 overs. However, Heinrich Klaasen (63 in 29 balls with eight sixes) and Shahbaz Ahmed (16 in five balls, with a four and two sixes) unreleased a barrage of sixes towards the end. 13 runs were needed in final over, but Harshit Rana (3/33) held his nerves, taking two wickets and defending the remaining runs. (ANI)
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