Narine leads KKR to eliminator win over RCB
Sunil Narine took the key wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell.
Sunil Narine took the key wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell.

KOLKOTA Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Sunil Narine put in a stunning performance to lead his side to a four-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League eliminator.
Off-spinner Narine took 4-21 to restrict RCB to 138-7 off 20 overs.

He then smashed 26 off 15 balls as KKR reached 139-6 with two balls to spare despite a late wobble in Sharjah.
KKR face Delhi Capitals in tomorrow’ssecond qualifier for a spot in the final.

The winner of that tie will play Chennai Super Kings on Friday for the 2021 IPL title.

KKR have now won six out of eight games since the delayed tournament resumed in the United Arab Emirates, while RCB are eliminated in Virat Kohli’s final match as captain of the franchise.

Narine bamboozles RCB big names
Narine’s all-round display was one of the finest in IPL history – there are not many bigger wickets to take in T20 cricket than Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell, while he gave KKR much-needed impetus with the bat.

RCB made a strong start before KKR’s spinners took hold, with Narine bamboozling the batters with his changes of pace, immaculate length and sharp turn.

After removing Srikar Bharat, Narine then bowled both Kohli and De Villiers with beautiful deliveries, each one foxing the star batter and finding a gap between bad and pat.

Once Narine also had Maxwell miscuing a big shot to Lockie Ferguson, RCB’s hopes of posting a massive total had completely subsided.
The game was in the balance when Narine arrived at 79-3 off 11 overs but three sixes off the first three legal deliveries he faced from Dan Christian put KKR on top.

West Indies opted not to select Narine for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Oman and the UAE because of concerns over his fitness – this performance suggests they could rue that decision.

(BBC Sport).

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