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Following Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) victory over Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, the former India cricketer Parthiv Patel lauded all-rounder Sunil Narine after his match-winning performance.
Narine was the tormentor-in-chief as his pyrotechnic-filled 85 in 39 balls helped Kolkata post 272/7, the second-highest total in IPL history, which they defended despite half-centuries from DC skipper Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs. DC was bundled out for 166 runs and lost the game held at Visakhapatnam by 106 runs. The 39-year-old stated that Narine is the kind of player who can help his side in winning the game while opening the innings. He further stated that it is exciting to see a batter like Narine playing. "When Gautam Gambhir was captain of KKR, he was completely convinced that Sunil Narine is the kind of player who could win them matches if he opened the batting. He came back to KKR and has done just that. A lot of things make a difference. Knowing you have someone who backs you, allows you to bat with confidence. Without a doubt, his batting is exciting. If you score 85 off 39 balls and it feels like every other ball can go for a four or a six, it is exciting," Parthiv said as quoted by Jio Cinema. Coming to yesterday's match, with explosive knocks from Sunil Narine (85 in 39 balls, with seven fours and seven sixes), the 18-year-old Angkrish Raghuvanshi (54 in 27 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and cameos from Andre Russell (41 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and Rinku Singh (26 in eight balls, with one four and three sixes) took the two-time champions to 272/7 in 20 overs. Anrich Nortje (3/59) was the pick of the bowlers for DC, but leaked a lot of runs. Ishant Sharma (2/43) was also solid with the ball. Khaleel Ahmed and Mitchell Marsh took a wicket each. In the run-chase, DC sunk to 33/4. A 93-run partnership between skipper Rishabh (55 in 25 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Tristan Stubbs (54 in 32 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes) helped DC put up a brief fight and provide some entertainment to their fans, but they were skittled out for 166 in 17.2 overs. Vaibhav Arora (3/27) and Varun Chakravarthy (3/33) were the pick of the bowlers for KKR. Mitchell Starc also picked up 2/25 in three overs. Andre Russell and Sunil Narine took a wicket each. Narine won the 'Player of the Match' award for his fifty. KKR is at the top, having won all their three games and getting six points. DC is in the ninth spot with one win and three losses, giving them two points. (ANI)
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