After Punjab Kings were dismissed for 137, Kolkata Knight Riders got themselves in a bit of bother after PBKS leggie Rahul Chahar dismissed Shreyas Iyer (26) and Nitish Rana (0) in the same over.
Out came Andre Russell who took a couple of overs to rev up his engine. But once he got stuck into the PBKS bowling there was no stopping him.
That the Punjab bowlers were not accurate only made things simpler for the Jamaican slogger. But on Friday night at the Wankhede, Dre Russ -- who turns 34 on April 29 -- did not go slogging every bowler, but played with precision. He played the accurate Chahar with respect but was lethal against the quickies, plundering them for the lofted shots that reaped great dividends.
He remained 70 not out off 31 balls! Eight sixes! Two fours! Srike rate of 225.81.
Russell may have not been in top form last season, but justified his Rs 12 crore (Rs 120 million) tag with his big hitting on Friday and there is much to look forward to from this all-rounder.
