Andre Russell recently announced his retirement from T20Is and will play his last two matches in Jamaica against Australia. Andre Russell is a proper all-rounder who has shone with both ball and bat. While we all know about his batting prowess, we have very little idea about Russell the bowler who has been handy for the West Indies in the past. Here we will list out three best spells of Andre Russell.
2/15 vs Pakistan in Mirpur 2014
It was a Group stage match of the ICC T20 World Cup 2014 which was being played in Bangladesh. This particular match was held in Mirpur. Andre Russell showcased his all-round value to the team by contributing with the ball. The Men in Green struggled to play him.
West Indies were defending 167 in that game and Russell’s precise medium-fast bowling yielded exceptional figures of 2/15 in 3 overs. He picked up the key wickets of then skipper Mohammad Hafeez and Saeed Ajmal and maintained a miserly economy of 5 runs an over. His contribution made sure that the West Indies won this game by a whopping 84 runs as Pakistan were demolished in this game thanks to Russell.
2/10 vs Bangladesh in Mirpur 2014
Andre Russell delivered one of his best T20I bowling performances in this group stage clash of the ICC T20 World Cup in 2014. West Indies had runs on the board and it was upto Bangladesh to chase this down later on. But Russell had other ideas.
Russell dismantled the Bangladesh batting taking 2 wickets for only 10 runs in 2.1 overs going at an miserly economy rate of 4.61. This devastating spell was instrumental in West Indies securing a dominant 73-run win against the hosts and move ahead in the tournament where they reached the semi-finals before losing to Sri Lanka.
3/19 vs England in Barbados, 2023.
Andre Russell saved his best for the last against England in the latter part of 2023 in December to be precise. The two teams met in the first match of the T20I series and Russell was making his comeback in the series after a while. England had started off well with the openers Phil Salt and then captain Jos Buttler putting on 77 for the first wicket inside the powerplay.
But it was Russell who did the star turn and broke the opening stand picking up Salt for 40 off 20 balls thanks to a brilliant catch in the deep from Shimron Hetmyer. Later on, he came back to pick the dangerous looking Liam Livingstone for 27 off 19 balls and rounded off with the wicket of Rehan Ahmed.
He finished with career best figures of 3/19 in 4 overs and with the help of other bowlers restricted England to 171 before chasing it down in 18.1 overs with Russell contributing there as well. His all-round performance earned him the Player of the Match Award as West Indies made a winning start to the series. Russell showed his utility to the West Indies with this performance.
What Lies Ahead
Andre Russell is set to take the field in the first of two matches that he is going to play in Jamaica before he retires. All eyes will be on him and his performance and whether he can lead West Indies to a win over Australia and make his farewell sweeter. Or will Australia spoil his farewell by registering a win against West Indies in the first T20I?
The stage is set for the 5T20I series to commence with the first one set to be played in Jamaica. It promises to be a riveting and exciting battle between the two sides and let the best team on the park win. The clash between West Indies and Australia is there on Monday 21st of July and both teams are likely to go hard against each other.
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