IPL 2024: Andre Russell, Sunil Narine on the verge of breaking records when KKR meets RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) Andre Russell and Sunil Narine are on the verge of writing new records when they step out to take the field in their team’s IPL league match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.

If Russell manages to hit three sixes, he will become the first batter to hit 200 sixes for KKR. He now has 197 maximums in his kitty. If he manages to hit nine sixes against RCB, he will better MS Dhoni’s record of 46 sixes against RCB, the most by any player against RCB. Russell now has hit 38 sixes against the Faf du Plessis-led franchise.

The West Indian batter is also three wickets shy of taking 100 wickets in the IPL. In 106 IPL matches, Russell has taken 97 wickets, with a best bowling performance of 5/15. He will become the second KKR bowler to take 100 wickets, behind Narine (164) when he manages to complete the feat.

Once he completes the feat of taking three wickets to join the century club, Russell will be the fifth player on the list of players who have taken 100 wickets and scored 1,000 runs. Chennai Super Kings all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja leads the list with 2724 runs and 152 wickets. The others on the illustrious list are Narine (1048 runs and 164 wickets), Dwayne Bravo (1560 runs and 183 wickets), and Axar Patel (1454 runs and 113 wickets).

Meanwhile, Narine will feature in his 500th T20 match, across all leagues and internationals. He is behind compatriots Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo and Pakistan’s Shoaib Malik. While Pollard has played 660 T20 matches, Bravo has featured in 573 of them, with Malik playing 542 T20 games.

The rivalry between KKR and RCB is one to watch out for. The teams have engaged in close encounters and lopsided ones too in the past. While KKR has beaten RCB 18 times in the IPL, RCB has won over KKR 14 times. In IPL 2023, KKR won both their matches against RCB.