Kolkata’s lynchpin, Andre Russell played yet another instrumental innings as his side defeated Punjab by 34 runs in what was the all-rounder’s final game at home of Indian T20 League of the season.
Russell, 31, smashed 80 off just 40 deliveries as Kolkata registered the season’s best 232 of 2. En route to his thrashing, the hard-hitting all-rounder powered eight sixes and six boundaries to keep Kolkata’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs well and truly alive.
Ironically, Russell was celebrating his 31st birthday on matchday (on Sunday) and caught up with his wife Jassym after the game for a lovely candid interview where he admitted that he’s always under pressure because he wants to impress Jassym with his knocks.
"It was a special night for me as well. It's my birthday. I always feel pressure because I want to make sure the fans are happy and I want to impress my beautiful wife (with) every match," Russell told Jassym.
"It's an emotional feeling. It was the last game of the season in Kolkata. We knew that we had to leave the fans who have been giving us great support over the last six days with a bang. We surely did, won by 34 runs."
416 out of his 486 runs in the tournament have come out of boundaries (29) and sixes (50), and when asked about his knock against Punjab, Jassym quoted, "It felt good. I knew you were going to do that because today is the last match in this ground (Eden Gardens). I expected that from you. I really had my heart in my hands when you were hitting those big sixes," she told Russell.
