Andre Russell stars in Kolkata Knight Riders win over Kings XI Punjab

Andre Russell blasted 66 off 36 balls to inspire Kolkata Knight Riders to a four-wicket win over Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League.

The West Indies all-rounder's destructive hitting rescued the Knight Riders after Sandeep Sharma reduced them to 60-5 in their chase of Kings XI's 155-9.

Russell also took the key wickets of Virender Sehwag and Thisara Perera as Kolkata did well to limit Kings XI to a modest total in which there was only two notable contributions.

Captain George Bailey made 60 and his Australian teammate Glenn Maxwell 33 after India opener Murali Vijay was bowled by Umesh Yadav for a first-over duck.

Sharma's spell with the new ball put Kings XI into a winning position in Pune as he dismissed Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Manish Pandey and Ryan ten Doeschate.

However, Yusuf Pathan (28 not out) kept one end stable while Russell smashed nine fours and two sixes to take Kolkata to their total with more than two overs to spare.

Although Mitchell Johnson had Russell caught before the innings was complete, the job had already been done and Piyush Chawla hit the winning runs to secure the Knight Riders a second victory in four games.