Caribbean Premier League T20: Sunil Narine bowls the perfect Super Over in a low scoring thriller
Last week in the opening match of Caribbean Premier League T20, Sunil Narine had bowled the most economical spell ever in T20: 4-1-3-0 for Guyana Amazon Warriors. Today, he continued that magificent form by bowling a wicket-maiden in the Super Over against Red Steel to steal an unlikely win in a low-scoring thriller.
Costly errors in last over
The match should have never gone to Super Over, but some poor display in the field by Fidel Edwards and wicket-keeper Nicholas Pooran helped Warriors tie the scores. Chasing 119 to win, Warriors needed 11 runs off the last over with just one wicket in hand, bowled by Dwayne Bravo.
Only 3 runs were conceded on the first three deliveries. Requiring 8 off the last three, an embarrassing misfield by Fidel Edwards led to four runs, followed by a mishit off a slower delivery landing in no-man’s land and two more runs.
The last ball however, looped up for the keeper Nicholas Pooran, only for him to drop a simple chance. Worse still, he failed to stop the batsmen from running two, and the scores were tied.
Super Over magic
In the Super Over, Guyana Warriors scored 11, with the help of a six from Man of the Match Christopher Barnwell, before Narine stunned everyone with his magic, bowling a wicket-maiden for the Warriors.
The first four deliveries of Narine’s Super Over were identical misses by left-handed Nicholas Pooran, the guilty in the field in the last over, who tried to slog the off-spinners from Narine, but could only connect thin air as the balls turned miles after hitting the pitch.
He connected on the fifth ball, but could only sky it to long off where the fielder completed a simple catch and sealed the victory for Warriors. Narine bowled the last ball to right-handed Ross Taylor who missed the one which went away from him, and an over, which will be talked about for a long time, came to an end.
Earlier, Narine had mentioned that staying relaxed at such critical moments is the key to his success. No wonder, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir was so adamant that his franchise buys the mystery spinner in IPL.
Watch the Super Over by Narine:
Full Super Over and last over chaos:
Earlier, Red Steel put up 118/8 in 20 overs, with help from Pooran’s 37 runs off just 17 deliveries. Opener Evin Lewis was the highest scorer for Red Steel, with 36 off 51. Medium pacer Ronsford Beaton and Sunil Narine picked up 2 wickets apiece, with Pakistan’s Mohammad Hafeez also picking up a scalp, for just 11 runs off his 4 overs.
In reply, Warriors lost regular wickets at the top, despite Lendl Simmons (32 off 25) holding one end. A late partnership between Christopher Barnwell and Narine then steadied the innings, before the last wicket pair of Veerasammy Permaul and Beaton tied the scores in the last over.