CLT20 2014: Sunil Narine leaves CSK baffled with magical bowling performance
Kolkata Knight Riders registered a sensational win against Chennai Super Kings in the opening group match of Champions League T20 at Hyderabad, when West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell (58 off 25) and Dutch maestro Ryan ten Doeschate (51* off 41) put together a jailbreak partnership for the reigning IPL champions.
CSK were looking set for a huge win after KKR had lost 5 wickets for 51 after 9 overs in a chase of 158. But the 80-run partnership between Russell and Doeschate off just 45 balls changed everything.
Despite the great escape, Dhoni conceded in the post-match presentation that 157 was a below-par score at this ground. At one stage, CSK were cruising at over 8 runs an over, with Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis in the middle before KKR spinners, led by Sunil Narine, turned the tide.
Narine was unplayable on the day, registering stupendous bowling figures of 4-0-9-1 in the match. Of the 24 deliveries bowled by the West Indian wizard, 16 were dot balls.
While Narine troubled all batsmen, fellow West Indian Dwayne Bravo was the worst affected. Bravo failed to score of all 9 deliveries bowled to him by Narine, leaving CSK at least 10-20 runs short in the end. MS Dhoni and Bravo collected 49 runs in the last 5 overs, with only 3 coming off Narine’s 2 overs in the period.
On an all-time scale in the tournament, this was the 10th best individual performance in CLT20 history as far as economy rate in an innings is concerned.
Top 10 economical spells in Champions League T20 (min 12 balls bowled):
| Bowler | Bowling figures | Economy Rate | Match | Year |
| Kyle Mills | 4-1-6-2 | 1.50 | Auckland v Stallions | 2012 |
| Rangana Herath | 4-0-7-2 | 1.75 | Wayamba v Central D | 2010 |
| Samuel Badree | 4-1-7-2 | 1.75 | T&T v Leicestershire | 2011 |
| Chris Morris | 4-0-7-2 | 1.75 | Lions v Delhi Daredevils | 2012 |
| Brett Lee | 4-1-8-1 | 2.00 | NSW v Sussex | 2009 |
| Sunil Narine | 4-0-8-3 | 2.00 | T&T v CSK | 2011 |
| Pradeep Sangwan | 2-0-4-0 | 2.00 | Delhi Daredevils v Cape Cobras | 2009 |
| Josh Hazlewood | 4-0-9-1 | 2.25 | Sydney Sixers v Yorkshire | 2012 |
| Sunil Narine | 4-1-9-4 | 2.25 | T&T v SRH | 2013 |
| Sunil Narine | 4-0-9-1 | 2.25 | KKR v CSK | 2014 |
*Stats updated up to 17th September 2014