Hurricane Narine destroys the Royals attack with a breathtaking hundred
Champion spin duo of Ashwin and Chahal su†ers the wrath of the West Indian the most as Knight Riders soar to 223 for six
Sunil Narine may well be in the evening of his career, but he is proving a nightmare for the bowlers at this IPL.
The 35-year-old West Indies all-rounder — his last international game came ve years ago — smashed his maiden career hundred in front of a massive, happy, noisy crowd at the Eden Gardens on Tuesday night.
Narine’s 56-ball 109 (13x4, 6x6) took Kolkata Knight Riders to 223 for six after being asked to bat by Rajasthan Royals.
It was a brilliant innings from Narine, who is repaying the faith reposed in him by KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir.
An assured run at the top of the order has helped him play with freedom and boldness.
This was a special knock on several counts. It was the rst-ever hundred by a KKR batter at home, and only the third in the IPL.
Narine showed no respect
Narine hammered 13 fours and six sixes in his blazing century.
to any of the Royals bowlers, including the champion spin duo of R. Ashwin and Yuzvendra
Chahal. He played strokes around this hallowed ground, but he seemed particularly keen to hit the
bowlers over their heads.
Narined carried the KKR batting on his shoulders. Only one other batter reached 30, as the promising teenager Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30, 18b, 5x4) helped him add 85 for the second wicket.
Crucial stand
That partnership was crucial. KKR had lost Phil Salt in the fourth over, as Avesh Khan provided the breakthrough for Royals in stunning fashion. He brought o£ a superb one-handed return catch o£ his own bowling, showing good re¤ex to pluck the ball that was hit with some power.
Avesh may not have been the happiest Royals man with that dismissal, though. That would have been Riyan Parag, who had dropped an easy catch from Salt at backwardpoint o£ Trent Boult. That was just the second ball of the innings.
Narine and Raghuvanshi, however, went on to frustrate the Royals bowlers, until the latter lashed hard at the short, wide ball from Kuldeep Sen only to nd R. Ashwin at third-man.
It took a ne yorker from Trent Boult to end Narine’s remarkable innings.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Phil Salt c & b Avesh 10 (13b, 1x4),
Sunil Narine b Boult 109 (56b,
Angkrish Raghuvansh c Ashwin b Kuldeep Sen 30 (18b,
Shreyas Iyer lbw b Chahal Andre Russell c Rinku (6b, 1x4), (1b);
FALL OF WICKETS
ROYALS BOWLING Boult 4-0-31-1, Avesh 4-0-35-2, Kuldeep Sen 4-0-46-2, Chahal 4-0-54-1, Ashwin 4-0-49-0 Toss: Royals.
RR was 125 for six in 13 overs with Buttler (40) and Powell (1) at the crease. Jaiswal (19), Samson (12), Parag (34), Jurel (2), Ashwin (8) and Hetmyer (0) were out