Anyone at New Road or watching on TV on a balmy July day three years ago will not be surprised by the big-hitting of Andre Russell during the current ICC World T20 for the West Indies.
For it was on July 27, 2013 that Andre Russell delivered a typical display of awesome power in his final match for Worcestershire in a Friends Life T20 contest against Somerset.
Somerset had posted a challenging total of 188-4 with Craig Kieswetter hitting 80 and Peter Trego 62.
But Russell came in at number five and proceeded to smash an unbeaten 77 off 42 balls with six sixes in the match shown live on Sky Sports.
Somerset were powerless to halt the onslaught as Worcestershire triumphed by five wickets with two balls to spare.
He received excellent support from debutant Ross Whiteley who, after his move from Derbyshire, hit 43 off 30 balls with two sixes and three fours.
Now Russell will be pitting his wits, along with another ex Worcestershire player in Chris Gayle, against England's Moeen Ali in tomorrow's Sunday's ICC World T20 final in Kolkata.
He smote 43 not out off 20 balls – including the winning six against Virat Kohli – to help the Windies to a memorable semi-final triumph over India in Mumbai yesterday.
Worcestershire players past, present and future were out in force for the two semi-finals with Colin Munro, Mitchell McClenaghan, Russell, Gayle, Moeen and 2016 NatWest T20 Blast signing Mitchell Santner all involved.
Moeen, part of the Worcestershire team when Russell delivered his power-hitting against Somerset, will be relishing his first appearance in a major final for England.
Since making his debut 26 months ago, he has become established in all formats of the game for his country.
*The Worcestershire side in batting order on that day versus Somerset was: Kervezee, Moeen Ali, Leach, Mitchell, Russell, Whiteley, Andrew – did not bat – Cox, Choudhry, D'Oliveira, Shantry.
