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In an unusual incident, West Indies powerhouse Andre Russell survived even after a ball hit his stumps during the 10th match of the ongoing Big Bash League (BBL) 2021-22 between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Thunder on Sunday.
It all happened during the 15th over of Stars’ chase bowled by young spinner Tanveer Sangha. The leg-spinner was delivering his last over and had conceded a six from Russell before he outplayed the Caribbean giant with a blockhole ball.
Russell couldn’t get under the ball as it carried a thick edge into his boots, then crashed onto the stumps. However, Sangha was extremely unlucky as even after the white leather rolled back onto the stumps, the zing bails didn’t dislodge, and Russell survived.
Both the bowler and batter were left smiling at each other as they couldn’t believe how exactly the bails didn’t come off.
Here is the video:
That was a ROLLERCOASTER of an over for DreRuss #BBL11 pic.twitter.com/kobkADByEG
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 12, 2021
“He has a bright future”: Russell lavishes praise on Sangha
Russell, who was at 35 from 15 balls when he got away off Sangha’s delivery, went on to make unbeaten 43 with the help of five sixes and a four to steer Stars to their second win of the tournament.
After the match, Russell spoke about his survival and also heaped praises on the 20-year-old tweaker for being a ‘bowler with a big heart’.
“The ball hit the stump – like hard … happy to still be batting and have a laugh about it. I commended him, and I said, ‘Listen, you have a big heart, and I like spinners that are not afraid to bowl to big hitters’,” said Russell, as quoted by cricket.com.au.
The Jamaican superstar asserted that Sangha bowled extremely well against him and reckoned he has a bright future.
“He was doing really, really well. He was bowling into my body and mixing his pace. He’s not afraid to bowl in the power surge over to me … he did well, so hats off to him. He just has a bright future. He has a long way to go, and if he can be doing this, now, he’s just improvement (to come),” added Russell.
