Retired West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine produced a magnificent 81 to set the foundations for a 98-run win for Kolkata Knight Riders against hosts Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.
Narine opened the batting with England’s Phil Salt to produce a blistering opening stand of 61 from only 4.1 overs. Narine smashed six fours and seven sixes from 39 balls to be the core of a KKR total of 235 for 6 after being put in to bat.
Salt hit 32 runs and supporting knocks of 32 from Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 25 not out from Ramandeep Singh, 23 from Shreyas Iyer and Russell made 16 all contributed to KKR total.
Pacer Harshit Rana and leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy then combined to lead the KKR with the ball, as LSG were demolished for 137 in 16.1 overs.
Rana ended with three for 24 from 3.1 overs, Chakaravarthy finished with three for 30 from three overs, and West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell bagged two wickets.
Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis led the way for LSG with 36, and his captain K.L. Rahul, made 25; while West Indies left-handed wicket-keeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran only got 10.
Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ulHaq was the most successful LSG bowler taking three for 49 from his four overs.
It was the third win in a row for KKR which took them back to the top of the 10-team table on 16 points from eight wins in 11 matches. LSG sunk to fifth on 12 points from six wins from their 11 matches.
