Andre Russell all-round display on comeback match against England in 1st T20I earns him MOTM

The England vs West Indies T20I series began on Tuesday. The Windies defeated the English Lions by four wickets in the first T20I. Andre Russell who was included in the T20I squad after two years, he displayed a match-winning performance on his return to the side. He showed an all-round display with the bat and ball letting his team take a 1-0 lead against the defending T20 champions. Rovman Powell won the toss and elected to field first, Jos Buttler's side scored a defendable score of 171 runs. 

Russell was the pick of the bowlers for the side. The big Jamaican all-rounder picked three wickets in four overs leaking out just 19 runs. While chasing the batter scored 29 runs off 14 balls and took his team through in the run chase, with his all-round show he earned the man of the match award as well. The all-rounder has been out of the team for injuries and poor performances for the national side. 

Keeping the T20 World Cup 2024 in mind which is scheduled to be held in the West Indies and USA, the 35-year-old has been brought back to the side, as he has a lot of experience in the shortest format of the game and can firepower towards the end of the innings as the conditions will suit him as well. 

I have been dreaming that my first match: Andre Russell

Russell said post-match, "For two weeks now since I got the call up I have been dreaming that my first match back I would be Player of the Match. I didn’t know how it would happen, but I just kept believing that it would happen. Cutters seem to work well here so I tried to bowl as many cutters and take the pace off, as most of the boundaries hit early in England’s innings were from pace on. We pulled it back very well and well bowled to everyone tonight."

England captain Jos Buttler after the match said, "From the position we were in, we were looking for a score of 200, who scored 39 while fellow opener Phil Salt put on a stylish 40 off 20 balls. We want to keep pushing the boundaries and trying to be as positive as we can."