Kolkata Knight Riders decided to field all-rounder Sunil Narine as the opener and his explosive knocks proved to be instrumental in the team’s thumping win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2024 on Friday. Narine was in brilliant form as he smashed the RCB pacers on the ground and ended up scoring 47 runs off just 22 deliveries. Narine had previously praised Gautam Gambhir for elevating him to the top of the batting order in the 2017 season and he has won many matches with his batting over the years. When Narine bowled Yash Dayal for a six, Gambhir, now KKR’s mentor, was visibly excited and his reaction went viral on social media.
Venkatesh Iyer’s ruthless 50 became the catalyst for Kolkata Knight Riders’ smooth seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL on Friday.
Venkatesh’s 30-ball fifty (3×4, 4×6) and a stunning blitz from openers Sunil Narine (47, 22b, 2×4, 5×6) and Phil Salt (30, 20b, 2×4, 2×6) propelled Knight Riders beyond 183 The target RCB had in store for them was built around Virat Kohli’s superb unbeaten 83-ball knock.
Kohli and KKR mentor Gautam Gambhir, who are not the best of friends, were seen hugging each other after the match.
— Game Changer (@TheGame_26) March 30, 2024
The KKR batsmen were never troubled by slow bowling or the RCB bowlers as they hit the target in just 16.5 overs.
The best example of their performance on the night was Venkatesh, who is struggling to regain his relevance in the white-ball format, who scored 75 runs for the third wicket along with skipper Shreyas Iyer (39 not out).
The left-hander found his range from the start and pacer Alzarri Joseph bore the brunt of his attacking intentions.
He bowled the West Indian for 20 runs in a game that included two sixes over cover and mid-wicket and a four-ball deflection to third man, besides a leg-bye boundary. .
Shreyas was bowled out by Yash Dayal ahead of impressive local pacer Vysakh Vijayakumar (1/23) , only plays a supporting role tonight.
But for this clean victory, KKR should be deeply grateful to Narine and Salt, who overwhelmed the RCB bowlers with their stunning power-hitting in the Power Play.
“There were no high expectations. The season has just started and we have only got two wins so far. We need to embrace that and enjoy each other’s success,” Shriyas said in his post-match speech.
(with PTI input)
Topics mentioned in this article
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in