Quiet day for Narine, Russell, Bravo in IPL
Published on Apr 25, 2016, 9:34 pm AST
Getting home: Kolkata Knight Riders Sunil Narine, right, looks on as Rising Pune Supergiants Steven Smith tries to make his ground during their 2016 Indian Premier League(IPL) Twenty20 match at The Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, India yesterday. —Photo: AFP
Pune
West Indies cricketers Sunil Narine and Andre Russell played small roles as Kolkata Knight Riders pulled-off a two wicket thriller over Rising Pune Supergiant’s in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.
Narine removed a dangerous opener and Russell unleashed a brief cameo to help rekindle an innings that stumbled, allowing KKR to successfully chase down the 160 runs set by Supergiants in the final over at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
Batting first, Supergiants’ total was built on a solid 67 from opener Ajinkya Rahane who struck four fours and three sixes before he was removed by Narine in the 18th over.
Rahane smashed the delivery straight back into the hands of Narine who had cramped him with a ball on the leg side.
With KKR chasing again, Suryakumar Yadav hit 60 from 49 balls at the top of the order, an innings which featured six fours and two sixes as they cruised on 111 for three.
However they suffered a dramatic slump, losing five wickets in 30 balls as MS Dhoni’s men moved to stop their winning momentum.
But Yusuf Pathan scored 36 from 27 balls and Russell, who posted 17, struck two big sixes off Ankit Sharma in the 17th over to keep KKR in the game.
Russell eventually holed out to a slower ball from Thisara Perera as the contest moved from a one-sided affair into a thriller.
Umesh Yadav sealed victory for KKR when he hit a six with five runs needed off the last four balls.
With four wins from four games KKR has moved to the top of the IPL table.
Meanwhile, in the other match yesterday, Dwayne Bravo went wicket-less in his four overs but hit the winning boundary as his Gujarat Lions beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore despite an unbeaten 100 off 63 balls byVirat Kohli for RCB.
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