Narine joins Cobras for South Africa's T20

Cape Town, Oct 2 (IANS/CMC) West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine has signed with the South African franchise, Cape Cobras, for the first half of the domestic Twenty20 competition next year.

The world’s number one T20 bowler will be the frontline spinner in an outfit that will be packed with international stars including Dale Steyn, Jacques Kallis, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, and Vernon Philander.

South Africa’s domestic twenty-over competition is scheduled to take place between Jan 8 and Feb 9.

“I look forward to working with Paul Adams and the guys in the new year,” said Narine who shot to fame in the 2011 Champions League.

“South Africa has one of the toughest leagues in the world, so it will be a big test for me. The Cobras look to have a serious squad of players and hopefully I can contribute.”

Narine has enjoyed big success in the Indian Premier League (IPL) including a player-of-the-season performance in 2012.

He was also an integral part of West Indies’ World Twenty20 title victory last year, taking nine wickets and conceding only 5.63 runs an over.

“Most of our internationals should be available for the twenty-over competition and we asked ourselves the question, who would best complement them?” said Paul Adams, Cobras coach.

“Sunil’s strength is that you can bring him on to bowl at pressure moments in the innings and he still strikes and keeps the run rate down.”

Narine is currently playing in the Champions League T20 in India for his native Trinidad and Tobago, who are awaiting their final group match against Chennai Super Kings Wednesday in order to know whether or not they will progress through to the semi-finals.