- Tuesday, May 07, 2024
KKR came very close to eclipsing the highest total in the history of IPL — 277 — which was posted by Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians this season.
By: Shubham Ghosh
KOLKATA Knight Riders’ (KKR) old warhorse Sunil Narine produced a dazzling knock of 85 off just 39 balls against Delhi Capitals (DC) at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday (3), propelling his side to a massive total of 272 for 7 in 20 overs, falling short of the top total of 277 that Sunrisers Hyderabad against Mumbai Indians exactly a week ago.
Narine, who has been delivering with the bat of late, opened the innings with wicket-keeper-batter Phil Salt (18) and slammed seven sixes and as many fours during his stay at the crease after KKR captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and decided to bat. After Salt’s exit, the 35-year-old Trinidadian added 104 runs with debutant Angkrish Raghuvanshi in just eight overs. The latter too hit 54 off just 27 balls to add to Delhi’s woes.
Andre Russell’s 19-ball 41, Rinku Singh’s 8-ball 26 and Iyer’s 11-ball 18 ensured that the KKR score became the second highest in the history of the IPL, pushing Bengaluru’s 263 for 5 made against now-defunct Pune Warriors in 2013 to the third position.
Read: Is Mayank Yadav the fastest bowler in IPL 2024? Well, there is a confusion…
Stand ovation for Sunil Narine from crowd for brilliant innings#DCvsKKR #IPL pic.twitter.com/ceDQOl3Ik2
— 𝔸𝕪𝕒𝕒𝕟 (@Retired_hurt) April 3, 2024
While Narine, who is mainly an off-spinner, narrowly missed out on his maiden century, his knock is so far the highest score in this year’s IPL. He was brought back to the opening slot in the IPL after a significant gap and it has paid off so far with the southpaw giving blistering starts to his team successfully.
In the previous match against Bengaluru, Narine gave KKR a brisk start by scoring 47 off 22 which proved to be decisive at the end and he was adjudged the player of the match.
Read: Carnage in IPL as Hyderabad post 277 against Mumbai, a record
Luck also favoured Narine as he survived a caught-behind dismissal as the opponent team did not appeal. It happened in the fourth over of the match when he was on 22. Despite DC’s Mitchell Marsh urging captain Rishabh Pant to take the DRS review, the latter remained unmoved and took it only when the time was over.
Narine was dismissed in the 13th over of the KKR innings when he tried to pull a short-pitched delivery from Marsh and was caught by Pant. He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he walked back and KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, who watches most of his team’s games from the stands, also obliged.
KKR, who have not won the crown in a decade, have won two of their opening games against Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
