IPL 2021: “Hopefully, it can work out in the games to come again” - Sunil Narine reflects on his blazing cameo against RCB
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) 's mystery spinner Sunil Narine has said that he was just looking to play his natural game when he hit three sixes in an over from Dan Christian on Monday.
Narine smashed 26 off 15 to go with figures of 4 for 21 as KKR defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by four wickets in the Eliminator in Sharjah. KKR will now face Delhi Capitals (DC) in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2021 on Wednesday.
Chasing 139 for victory, KKR were in a spot of bother at 79 for 3. However, Narine killed RCB's hopes of a fightback through his blistering cameo.
Reflecting on his momentum-changing innings, Narine told Andre Russell in an interaction on IPLT20.COM:
“(My) plan was just to go out there and play my natural game. Just try to get the runs as quickly as possible for the team. It worked out today, so thank the Lord. Hopefully, it can work out in the few games to come again.”
Three teams left, very proud of the whole @KKRiders family. #restup https://t.co/BaMvDrn1cH
Apart from Narine, Shubman Gill (29), Venkatesh Iyer (26) and Nitish Rana (23) also chipped in as KKR got over the line in the last over.
"The wicket suited our bowlers" - Sunil Narine
Before his exploits with the bat, Narine was unplayable with the ball. claiming four key RCB scalps - Srikar Bharat, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell.
Admitting that it was a great feeling to dismiss four big names from the opponents, the 33-year-old gushed about his exploits:
“It is a good feeling getting wickets, especially when you get the important guys from the next team - the three batsmen (Kohli, De Villiers, Maxwell) that they have. It’s good, as it worked out today. Hopefully, I can continue going from strength to strength, and we will see how it goes.”
RCB got off to a good start after winning the toss, and batting first. Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli added 49 runs for the first wicket. However, once that partnership was broken, RCB could not recover, as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
Narine opined that the Sharjah wicket suited his team's bowlers, and KKR took advantage of that, saying:
“The wicket suited our bowlers. It was slow, it spun a little bit, and we made use of it. Once you perform like that while bowling, it sets up the game for the batters.”
KORBO. LORBO. JEETBO. 💜💛
https://t.co/Y86nSGEs6F
Narine has 14 wickets to his name from 12 IPL 2021 games at a brilliant economy rate of 6.41. He'll now look to play another significant role for his team in the Qualifier 2 against DC.