New Delhi [India], April 30 (ANI): Following his side’s 14-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) spinner Sunil Narine hailed the entire team for a collective effort.
KKR returned to their winning ways as a magical spell from Narine helped them find back their way in the match and leave DC 14-runs short of a win at Arun Jaitley Stadium on Tuesday.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Narine said, “It was a total team effort, we started in the middle overs with Anky (Angkrish) and Rinku with the bat. I still back myself to come back and deliver for the team. There are games when you start well and struggle and then there are games that you do not begin well and end well.”
“It’s all wickets (on wickets he enjoys the most), it is not one wicket that I enjoy. Not the greatest fielder, but it is always good to get a good run-out whenever possible. (on running-out KL Rahul) Just swing and throw the ball as hard as possible.”
“Always want to be able to give the captain an option of going for you in a pressure situation. If you want to be that player, you have to do the hard work even when there’s no training,” he concluded.
Coming to the match, DC won the toss and opted to field first. Quick knocks from top four of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26 in 12 balls, with five fours and a six), Sunil Narine (27 in 16 balls, with two fours and two sixes), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (26 in 14 balls, with four boundaries and a six), and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 in 32 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Angkrish’s 61-run stand with Rinku Singh (36 in 25 balls, with three fours and a six) powered KKR to 204/9 in 20 overs.
Mitchell Starc (3/43), Vipraj Nigam (2/41) and skipper Axar Patel (2/27) were among the top bowlers for DC.
During the run-chase, DC was 60/3 after the powerplay, but a 76-run stand between Faf Du Plessis (62 in 45 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and skipper Axar Patel (43 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) helped DC solidify their hold on the match. However, with the wicket of Axar by Narine started DC’s downfall and they collapsed to 160/8. Vipraj Nigam (38 in 19 balls, with five fours and two sixes) tried to fight, but DC was restricted to 190/9 in 20 overs.
Narine (3/29) was the pick of the bowlers for KKR. Varun Chakravarthy also delivered a spell of 2/39 in four overs. Anukul, Vaibhav Arora and Andre Russell took a wicket each.
Now, KKR is at seventh spot with four wins and five losses, giving them eight points. DC is in fourth place with six wins and four losses, with 12 points. At home, they have won just one out of four games so far. (ANI)