Sunil Narine registers record T20 spell

Sunil Narine

West Indian mystery spinner Sunil Narine, playing for Guyana Amazon Warriors, produced one of the best Twenty20 spells you will ever see – 4-1-3-0, before coming back to score a crucial 11* off 9 deliveries to help his team win the inaugural match of the Caribbean Premier League, against Antigua Hawksbills, last Friday.

Narine was at his miserly best, conceding just three runs in his quota of 4 overs, as the Warriors restricted the Hawkbills to 136 in 20 overs.

The 26-year-old joined Zulfiqar Babar (4-2-3-2) and Shoaib Malik (4-2-3-1) – both from Pakistan – as only the third bowler to go at less than one run an over in the shortest format of the game, taking into account only completed T20 spells. The Trinidad bowler, however, didn’t pick up any wicket.

There have been several instances of bowlers finishing the match with better economy rates but aren’t taken into account as they did not complete the quota, while Rangana Herath’s 5-3 against New Zealand in the T20 World Cup earlier this year came in 3.3 overs.

Riding on the stellar show by their star spinner, Guyana chased down the target with 2 wickets and 3 balls to spare. Captain Denesh Ramdin, after effecting a couple of run outs in the first innings, scored 51 off 36 balls to bag the ‘Man-of-the-Match’ award.

Earlier, New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham, using the pressure built up by Narine, claimed three wickets in the death overs to make things easier for the batsmen after Ramdin won the toss and decided to field first.

Brief Scores:

Antigua Hawksbills: 136-8 in 20 overs (Ben Dunk 38(21), Jimmy Neesham 3-33)

lost to

Guyana Amazon Warriors: 140-8 in 19.3 overs (Denesh Ramdin 51(36), Sheldon Cottrell 3-24)

Guyana Amazon Warriors won by 2 wickets.