Overseas stars Phil Salt and Andre Russell were the orchestrators as Kolkata Knight Riders stormed to 208 for seven against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an Indian Premier League match on Saturday.
Salt smashed a 40-ball 54 before the experienced Russell stepped up towards the end of the innings at the Eden Gardens to score 64* off just 25 deliveries.
While Salt hit three fours and as many sixes, Russell's knock included three boundaries and seven maximums. Alongside Rinku Singh, who made a 15-ball 23, Russell built a partnership of 81 runs from 33 balls as KKR scored 85 runs in the last five overs.
In the penultimate over, Russell punished Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 26 runs, hitting two fours and two sixes. Earlier in the innings, the Carribean all-rounder was given a lifeline when a stunning catch by Aiden Markram off Mayank Markande was found to have touched the ground. Russell went on to add another 44 runs from that point.
Ramandeep Singh also made a useful 35 off 17 balls, while Rinku Singh scored 23 off 15 deliveries.
Mayank Markande (2/39) and T Natarajan (3/32) were the main wicket-takers for SRH.
- With PTI inputs
