CHENNAI: Sunil Narine has been a revelation with the blade this IPL season. After being re-installed as opener, he has taken apart bowlers at will to be among top scorers. That was evident in Lucknow on Sunday as the Kolkata Knight Riders opener dismantled the Lucknow Super Giants attack to help the team post 98-run win. The win also took KKR to top of the IPL standings.
With his propensity to dominate the short delivery, clearing the ropes at will in the process, he has left the bowlers' head scratching.
LSG's Marcus Stoinis experienced that first-hand. Narine had warmed up to the occasion and had reached his half-century, his third of the season, before Stoinis' over (11th of the innings). Narine cleared the ropes three times, leaving the helpless Stoinis in dismay.
The first one was a ball which was pitched full around leg. Narine cleared his front leg before hitting it over long on. Following a dot ball, Stoinis went for slower delivery but Narine was in no mood to slow down, and connected again to find the maximum. Narine made good use of the crease to make it worse for Stoinis in the final delivery.
Earlier, Narine had handed the same treatment to the likes of Yash Thakur. Narine's innings was finally undone by spinner Ravi Bishnoi, but not before scoring 81 off 39 deliveries. The West Indian, who is currently the third-highest run-scorer with a tally of 461 (in 11 matches) this season, sliced a full delivery outside off to be caught by substitute, Devdutt Padikkal, near long off.
Narine's innings comprised six fours and seven sixes. However, KKR lost their way for a brief period as Andre Russell (12 off 8 balls) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (32 off 26) were sent back in a span of seven deliveries. Rinku Singh and KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer (23 off 15) were also finding it hard to get the boundaries before the former was sent back by Naveen-ul-Haq, who ended with figures of 3/49. In the end, Ramandeep Singh (25 off 6) did exceptionally well to take the visiting side to 235/6 in 20 overs.
Before Narine's display, it was his fellow opener Phil Salt who had sparked the innings with 14-ball 32. Narine had in fact made a watchful start before taking centrestage.
In reply, LSG were in the game until their second wicket fell. KL Rahul and Marcus Stoinis were forging a promising partnership but just when they were looking to find a different gear, the former was dismissed by Harshit Rana.
Deepak Hooda, Rahul's replacement, followed soon. Things went from bad to worse for the home side as Stoinis, who was looking in good touch, fell soon after making 36 off 21 balls. Then it was Nicholas Pooran who got out next. And with that, LSG's fate was more or less sealed. Varun Chakravarthy and Harshit claimed three wickets each while Russell picked up two wickets.
In the end, the hosts fell way short of the target.
Brief scores: KKR 235/6 in 20 ovs (Narine 81, Raghuvanshi 32, Salt 32, Ramandeep 25 n.o; Naveen-ul-Haq 3/49) bt LSG 137 in 20 ovs (Stoinis 36, Rahul 25; Varun 3/30, Harshit 3/24).