KKR's Andre Russell breaks Chris Gayle's record after whirlwind knock against SRH

Andre Russell added another feather to his cap on Saturday after smashing an unbeaten 64 off just 25 deliveries during Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) opening match of IPL 2024 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Kolkata.

The hard-hitting all-rounder, who had been retained by the Knight Riders ahead of the mega auction in 2022 as well as in the subsequent seasons, smashed seven maximums during his stay at the crease to become the fastest batter to 200 sixes in the IPL in terms of balls faced.

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‘Dre Russ’, as he is popularly known, ended up surpassing fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle to become the new holder of the record. Russell reached the milestone in just 1,322 deliveries compared to 1,811 balls needed by the ‘Universe Boss’ to reach the same milestone.

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Russell thus has scored more than half of his runs in the IPL through sixes.

Andre Russell becomes the fastest batter to reach 200 IPL sixes. He reaches there in only 1322 balls, miles ahead of Chris Gayle who got there in 1811 balls.

51.59% of his career IPL runs have come through sixes!#IPL2024 #KKRvsSRH

— Lalith Kalidas (@lal__kal) March 23, 2024

The fireworks off his bat at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens helped the two-time champions recover from a wobble in the middle overs to post a formidable 208/7 on the board after being invited to bat by Sunrisers captain Pat Cummins.

Joining Rinku Singh at the crease after Phil Salt was dismissed by leg-spinner Mayank Markande for a 40-ball 54, Russell would announce himself by smashing the very same bowler for three sixes in a space of five deliveries in the leggie’s final over of the day.

Russell was apparently caught by Aiden Markram at long on in Markande’s final delivery of the day, only for the third umpire to rule it in favour of the batter after replays appeared to suggest the South African had grassed the ball during his valiant attempt.

Russell would smash his way to a 20-ball half-century and help KKR go past 200 after being reduced to 119/6 at one stage.

He would later contribute with the ball as well, getting rid of SRH opener Abhishek Sharma during their chase of the 209-run target.