If 200 plus runs are the new normal of this Indian Premier League, West Indies’ Sunil Narine should also take a fair amount of credit for that. The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) opener’s power-hitting can dictate terms to any bowling attack and on any surface, even one that was a bit slow on Sunday at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Continuing his good run with bat and ball, Narine showed his batting might first, striking a 39-ball 81 (6×4, 7×6) – this is his third fifty while he also has a century – to propel KKR to 235/6 before taking 1/22 to help crush Lucknow Super Giants’ hopes of any meaningful response as the hosts were dismissed for 137 in 16.1 overs.
The 98-run victory also lifted twice former champions KKR past Rajasthan Royals to the top of the points table.
Narine has spoken about Gautam Gambhir, back as KKR mentor this season, giving him a free hand as a top-order enforcer. He was on song, hammering the LSG bowlers all around the ground. Like they have done several times this season, Narine and fellow opener Phil Salt put on a 61-run partnership off just 26 balls.
It was their sixth fifty partnership this IPL. Though Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq ended Salt’s (32 – 14b, 5×4, 1×6) stay within the powerplay, chasing a wide delivery with KL Rahul taking an eye-catching diving catch, Narine powered on, hitting three sixes off Marcus Stoinis.
Narine, whose century came against Rajasthan Royals before he scored 71 against Punjab Kings, completed his seventh IPL half-century off just 27 balls. After Salt’s dismissal, he joined young Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32, 26b) and the two added 79 runs together as KKR raced to 110/1 at the halfway mark.
As the match progressed, Narine became more aggressive, especially in the last couple of overs. He could have been caught at long on, but the fielder overbalanced and stumbled over the rope to concede a six. He could have been caught again, this time at short third, but Stoinis couldn’t quite hold on as he dived and then tried to reach overhead, still letting the ball go for a boundary.
Narine’s clean-hitting show ended on the last ball of the 12th over when he was caught on the long-off boundary. The KKR batters who followed him maintained the scoring momentum.
Andre Russell’s 8-ball 12 (1×4, 1×6) and Rinku Singh’s 16 (11b, 2×4) kept the scoreboard racing before skipper Shreyas Iyer (23 – 15b, 3×4) and Ramandeep Singh’s unbeaten 23 in just six balls with the help of one four and three towering sixes helped the side cross the 200 mark. In fact, Singh’s innings was a treat to watch as he came at No.7 and belted in the death overs and guided KKR to the highest batting first total at the venue.
LSG never looked in control though skipper Rahul and all-rounder Stoinis tried their best to accelerate, adding 50 for the second wicket, after losing young opener Arshin Kulkarni in the second over. Rahul fell for 25 (21 b, 3×4) while Stoinis stroked a 21-ball 36, containing four boundaries and two sixes. The two couldn’t make much of a difference as the side could only make 55/1 in the powerplay in contrast to KKR’s 70/1 in the first six overs.
As the two fell before the half-way mark, the remaining LSG batters found the going tough against a disciplined bowling attack, especially Russell, who made perfect use of his bouncers to remove Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran (10). Harshit Rana (3/24) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/30) too bowled on a tight line and kept striking to leave LSG fifth on the table.
“The most important thing is starting well,” Narine said at the presentation. “Support staff have been backing me. It’s been working for me, and I hope it does for the rest of the tournament. It’s about picking what you are going to do on that particular day with your strengths. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”
