Narine blitz sets up third win in a row for KKR

LUCKNOW, India (CMC):

Retired West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine continued his batting exploits in the Indian Premier League with a swashbuckling 81 that set the foundations for a 98-run win for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) against hosts Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) yesterday.

The 35-year-old, who bats left-handed, again opened the batting, and he slammed six fours and seven sixes from 39 balls to be the cornerstone of a KKR total of 235 for six after they were put into bat at the Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium.

Pacer Harshit Rana and leg-spinner Varun Chakaravarthy then combined to lead the KKR charge with the ball, and LSG were demolished for 137 in 16.1 overs.

Rana ended with three for 24 from 3.1 overs, Chakaravarthy finished with three for 30 from three overs, and ICC Men’s Twenty20 World Cup-bound West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell bagged two wickets.

World Cup-bound Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis led the way for LSG with 36, and his captain K.L. Rahul, who missed out on World Cup selection for India, made 25; while World Cup-bound West Indies left-handed wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran got only 10.

It was the third win in a row for KKR and catapulted them back to the top of the 10-team table on 16 points from eight wins in 11 matches, and LSG dropped to fifth on 12 points from six wins in the same number of matches.

Earlier, World Cup-bound England opener Phil Salt hit 32 and set the platform with Narine in a blistering opening stand of 61 from only 4.1 overs, but breezy knocks of 32 from Angkrish Raghuvanshi, 25 not out from Ramandeep Singh, and 23 from Shreyas Iyer beefed up the total; while Russell made 16.

Afghanistan pacer Naveen-ul-Haq was the most successful LSG bowler, taking three for 49 from his allotted four overs.