Sunil Narine wreaks havoc with 39-ball 85 blitz vs DC, amazes Shah Rukh Khan as KKR co-owner showers beaming ovation | cricket

Kolkata Knight Riders’ star opener Sunil Narine produced an incredible hitting on Wednesday, smashing 85 in just 39 during the match against Delhi Capitals. While Narine missed out on a maiden century, he did record his best score in a T20 game; Additionally, his 85 is also the highest score in this year’s Indian Premier League so far.

The West Indian all-rounder was brought back as an opener in the league after a significant gap in the 2024 season; the move fetched rewards in the initial games as Narine provided the side with blistering starts.

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On Wednesday, luck was in favor of Narine, too, as he survived a caught-behind dismissal due to a lack of appeal in only the fourth over of the match when he was playing on just 22. Despite DC’s Mitchell Marsh urging captain Rishabh Pant to take the review, the latter remained unmoved and only signaled for the DRS after the time had passed.

The incident took place during the middle of Narine’s onslaught against veteran Indian pacer Ishant Sharma. He had hit Ishant for two successive sixes off the first two deliveries, followed by a thick edge that pierced the field on the off-side for a four. To add salt to the wounds, Narine finished the over with two successive boundaries.

The primary reason for promoting Narine to the opening position is to capitalize on scoring opportunities during the Powerplay. The West Indian showed no mercy against the Capitals bowlers, propelling the Knight Riders to a formidable 88/1 by the conclusion of six overs, marking the highest Powerplay score of the season.

Narine’s onslaught continued even as the field spread, and he looked to clear the field following that. He was helped by Angkrish Raghuvanshi, the 18-year-old who played in his first game of the season for the Knight Riders; the youngster showed no nerves as he took on the DC attack, smashing a half-century in just 25 balls.

Narine was dismissed in the 13th over when he attempted to pull the short-pitched delivery from Marsh. Pant made no mistake behind the stump, grabbing the catch to end Narine’s power-hitting. Following his dismissal of him, Narine walked off to a standing ovation from the crowd, as well as KKR’s co-owner Shah Rukh Khan.

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Narine now has 134 runs in three matches in the IPL 2024 so far, with an incredible strike rate of 206.15.

KKR opted to bat

Shreyas Iyer, the KKR skipper, had unsurprisingly opted to bat in Visakhapatnam. The Knight Riders are yet to lose a game and will be looking to record a third-successive win in the season. Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, secured a comeback win after two losses in their previous match against Chennai Super Kings last week.

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