Andre Russell couldn’t put a foot wrong on his captaincy debut stepping up with an all-around performance to guide Jamaica Tallawahs to a surprise victory in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Friday.
He not just scored a blistering century off 40 balls but also took a hat-trick and pulled off a brilliant catch during the Trinbago Knight Riders innings to lead his side to an unlikely win.
It was the highest total chased at the CPL and Russell also became the first cricketer since Joe Denly to achieve the rare feat of producing a hat-trick and scoring a hundred in a single twenty-20 game.
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Russell’s magnificent knock of 121 in 49 balls included six boundaries and 13 monstrous sixes that helped the Tallawahs chase down a record score of 225 with three balls to spare. That was after they were struggling at 41-5 after six overs and then lost the next wicket on the score of 202.
The giant all-rounder’s knock set twitter on fire with many netizens applauding 30-year-old for his power-packed innings.
Russell’s national teammate Chris Gayle also praised the Tallawahs captain tweeting, “What an innings @Russell12A … just brilliant!! #MVP.”
Meanwhile, West Indies T-20 captain called Russell “special” applauding his record-breaking knock.
Former Australian cricketer Mel Jones also praised Russell for his special innings. She tweeted “Did that just happen? Debut captain, hat-trick, in at 5/41, a to lead the @JAMTallawahs to a win for the ages. Take a bow @Russell12A.”