IPL-17: LSG vs KKR | Narine’s blitzkrieg powers Knight Riders to 235 against Super Giants
The Hindu
Indian Premier League 2024: Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Lucknow on May 5, 2024
Sunil Narine continued his Midas touch with the bat in IPL 2024 as his blistering 39-ball 81 powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 235 for six against Lucknow Super Giants at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on May 5.
It all started with Narine putting on a quickfire 61-run opening stand with Phil Salt after K.L. Rahul elected to field.
Narine started sedately as Salt peppered LSG’s new-ball bowlers with a flurry of boundaries from the other end. But soon enough, the West Indian batter opened up as he thumped Mohsin Khan for three fours and a six in the fourth over of the game.
The KKR opening duo raced to its sixth fifty-plus partnership before Salt was caught behind off a slower one from Naveen-ul-Haq, much to the relief of a packed crowd.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi too joined in on the fun, with the KKR No. 3 crunching some crisp drives on the off side.
Only Yash Thakur managed to get in a boundary-less over in PowerPlay as the visitor piled on 70 runs in the opening phase.
The end of fielding restrictions did nothing to deter Narine as he took on the LSG spinners. When Krunal Pandya pitched it up, the ball was whacked over mid-wicket for an 86-metre six. The left-handed batter got to his fifty with a delicate late-cut four against leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.