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Home teams had won the first nine games of IPL 2024. Conversely, Kolkata Knight Riders hadn’t tasted defeat in six straight matches, dating back to 2016. One of those records had to take a tumble on Friday night.
Sunil Narine emphatically settled that debate, consigning Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a seven-wicket humbling with 19 deliveries to spare, making Faf du Plessis’ side the first to court defeat on home turf. In his 500th representative T20 game, the Trinidadian made up for an ordinary day in the park with a blazing 47 whilst opening the batting, making RCB’s 182 for six appear well below par.
Also Read: KKR openers took the game away: Faf
The hosts had the rough end of the batting stick, their innings stymied by the older ball gripping and not exactly rushing on to the bat. KKR’s chase was a lot more straightforward, a hint of dew quickening up the surface and preventing the RCB bowlers from getting the same purchase that Andre Russell in particular had extracted earlier in the evening.
The tone was set in the first over of the chase by Phil Salt, who hammered Mohammed Siraj for two sixes and a four in an 18-run riposte. Salt then enjoyed the Narine blitzkrieg from the best seat in the house.
Narine and Salt put on 85 in the Powerplay and 86 in all when Mayank Dagar, the left-arm spinner, forced the former to york himself. Salt followed in the next over, dismissed by Vyshak Vijaykumar, RCB’s most effective bowler on the night, but the two Iyers, Venkatesh and skipper Shreyas, put the issue beyond doubt with a rip-roaring association of 75. RCB’s bowling, wearing a threadbare look, was given a reality check with du Plessis powerless in his bid to staunch the unchecked bleeding.
Player of the Match Narine relished a return to run-scoring ways at the top of the tree. A man of few words, he attributed this burst to ‘just self-belief and support staff giving encouragement. “A little bit of hard work, and it is helping,” he added.
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