Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 21 (ANI): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowling all-rounder Sunil Narine overtook Sri Lankan and Mumbai Indians (MI) pace legend Lasith Malinga to become the player with the most wickets for a single team in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Narine accomplished this milestone during his side’s match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at Eden Gardens.
In the match, Narine could contribute just 10 runs with the bat. However, he made amends by doing well with the ball. He took 2/34 in his four overs, with an economy rate of 8.50. He took game-changing wickets of Cameron Green and Mahipal Lomror which swung the game in KKR’s favour.
Now in 169 matches, Narine has taken 172 wickets at an average of 25.59 and a strike rate of 22.75, with the best figures of 5/19. Surpassing Malinga, who has 170 wickets in 122 balls, Narine has become the sixth-highest wicket-taking bowler in IPL history.
As far as most wickets for a single franchise are concerned: Jasprit Bumrah (158 scalps for Mumbai Indians), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (150 wickets for Sunrisers Hyderabad) and Dwayne Bravo (140 wickets for Chennai Super Kings) are also a part of this list.
Under the mentorship of Gautam Gambhir, the franchise’s former skipper who also won the 2012 and 2014 IPL titles, Narine is having a major IPL comeback this year. In seven matches, he has scored 286 runs at an average of 40.85 and a strike rate of over 176, with a century and a fifty. He is the fifth-highest run-getter this season. He has also taken nine wickets with the best figures of 2/30.
Coming to the match, RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis won the toss and elected to field first. Phil Salt’s explosive 48 in 14 balls, with seven fours and three sixes, provided the two-time champions with some extra runs in the powerplay. Wickets were falling from the other end continuously, but skipper Shreyas Iyer (50 in 36 balls, with seven fours and a six), Rinku Singh (24 in 16 balls, with two fours and a six), Andre Russell (27* in 20 balls, with four boundaries) and Ramandeep Singh (24* in nine balls, with two fours and two sixes) contributed just enough to take them to 222/6 in their 20 overs.
Cameron Green (2/35) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB. Yash Dayal also picked up two wickets, but leaked 56 runs. Mohammed Siraj and Lockie Ferguson took a wicket.
In the run-chase, RCB lost Virat Kohli (18) and Faf Du Plessis (7) early. A 102-run partnership between Will Jacks (55 in 32 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Rajat Patidar (52 in 23 balls, with three fours and five sixes) helped RCB bounce back, however, spells from Andre Russell (3/25) and Sunil Narine (2/34) changed the match once again. Karn Sharma attempted to swing the match in RCB’s favour with three sixes in the final over, however, the team fell short by a run and skittled out for 221 in 20 overs.
Russell got the ‘Player of the Match’ for his knock of 27 and three wickets.
With this win, KKR moved up to the second spot with five wins and two losses, giving them 10 points. The RCB stays bottom of the table with a win and seven losses, aggregating just two points. (ANI)
