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Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Sunil Narine dominated the powerplay once again with the bat by scoring a quickfire fifty against the Delhi Capitals (DC). The ace Caribbean recorded his first half-century of the season, after narrowly missing out against RCB to give KKR a dream start at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium.
Opening the innings with Phil Salt after KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer opted to bat first, Narine scored only a solitary run off his first six deliveries. The left-handed batter struggled against the swing that Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Sharma were able to generate with the new ball.
However, Narine was unstoppable after surviving the early phase. The West Indian smashed 26 runs off Ishant Sharma in the fourth over, comprising three sixes and two fours. He then scored 18 runs in the final over of the powerplay off Rasikh Salam to bring up his fifty in just 21 deliveries and help KKR post 80-plus runs in the powerplay.
For a change, Sunil Narine's carnage continued well after the powerplay. He kept taking on the bowlers to record the highest score in his T20 career.
Fans lauded Narine's resurgence after having had horrid returns with the bat in the last couple of seasons. Here are some of the reactions on Twitter:
Sunil Narine scored 85 runs off 39 deliveries against DC
The opening batter's rampage came to an end in the 13th over when he nicked a short delivery off Mitchell Marsh, and was caught by Rishabh Pant behind the stumps.
Narine's knock included seven fours and as many sixes and came at a strike rate of 217.95. His power-packed innings has given KKR an excellent platform, who are now placed at 196/3 in the 16th over. Debutant Angkrish Raghuvanshi scored a fifty in his maiden innings to keep the run flow going along with Narine at the other end en route to a 104-run partnership for the second wicket.
The two-time winners are seemingly going in for the kill as they have sent in Andre Russell at No.4. He and Shreyas will look to capitalize on the death overs and post a daunting total on the board.
