West Indies batsman Andre Russell, who plays for Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL), sends warning to rivals ahead of the resumption of IPL 2021 as he smashed the fastest fifty in the history of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Playing for Jamaica Tallawahs in the CPL 2021, Russell smashed an unbeaten half-century in just 14 balls to help his side post a huge total against Saint Lucia Kings at the Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts on Friday. The previous record was off 15 balls, by JP Duminy for the Barbados Tridents against the Trinbago Knight Riders in 2019.
Notably, Russell came out to bat in the 18th over of the innings, and yet he went onto score a stunning fifty as he started smashing bowlers all over the park from the word go. His 14-ball 50 included six sixes and three fours as he played with a strike rate of 357.14.
Interestingly, the 33-year-old muscled four sixes in an over of the Wahab Riaz. He scored 32 runs in that over which is the most expensive over in the history of the CPL.
Here’s the video of Russell’s swashbuckling innings:
Andre Russell has scored a fifty from just 14 balls the fastest of the CPL history. And he scored 48 runs through boundaries.#AndreRussell #Russell #CPL#CPL21 #CPL2021 #CPLT20 pic.twitter.com/M1hqPdMfSF
— ABDULLAH NEAZ (@AbdullahNeaz) August 28, 2021
Meanwhile, Russell's show and contribution by other batsmen helped Jamaica Tallawahs to set a 256-run target for the Saint Lucia Kings, who never really found partnerships that would see them get close to the target as Tallawahs thrashed them by 120 runs to register the biggest win in the CPL history.
Earlier in the day, Russell’s countryman Chris Gayle, who is playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the ongoing CPL 2021, hit the ball straight over the bowler's head and in the process he smashed a windowpane.
Here’s the video:
A SMASHING HIT by the Universe Boss @henrygayle sees him with the @OmegaXL hit from match 2. #CPL21 #BRvSKNP #CricketPlayedLouder #OmegaXL pic.twitter.com/8001dFwNWQ
— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 27, 2021
In the encounter against Barbados Royals, Gayle managed to put just 12 on the scoreboard but his short stay saw one gigantic hit, which soon became a social media buzz.
The incident took place on the fifth delivery of the fifth over, when Gayle made some room for himself and smashed a short of a length delivery pitched just outside the off-stump over Jason Holder's head for a biggie. However, his shot saw the ball travel straight into the window above the side screen and shattered the glass.
