Narine is KKR’s knight in shining armour

Kolkata Knight Riders opener Sunil Narine during his quickfire 81 against LSG at the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow on Sunday

Kolkata Knight Riders's dominance in the Powerplay with the bat has been one of the prime reasons for their success in the IPL this season, and promoting Sunil Narine as an opener has proved to be a masterstroke so far.

The 36-year-old Trinidadian all-rounder has been in tremendous form with the bat, to add to his usually parsimonious bowling. Decimating the rival bowling attack in the first six overs has given KKR the upper hand more often than not. Openers Phil Salt and Narine form a dangerous alliance, who, on their day, can take the game away in a matter of a few deliveries.

Narine-Salt partnership

That was the case at the Ekana Stadium here on Sunday night when the two wrecked the Lucknow Super Giants's plans much to the dismay of the full house in the last home game for LSG. The home team had planned to restrict KKR to a manageable total, but with Narine and Salt at their rampaging best, it became apparent quite early in the game that it was going to be an uphill task for LSG. And so it proved as KKR ran up a venue record total of 235. Then, the home batters burdened by the huge target, succumbed to the pressure and LSG lost the match by 98 runs. They could not even last their full quota of 20 overs as they were bundled out for 137 in 16.1.

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Shreyas Iyer (left) with all-rounder Sunil Narine. Pics/PTI, AFP

Those present at the stadium on the weekend will fondly remember Narine's innings. It would have been even more memorable had he gone on to get his second century of the season. Earlier, he had made 109 against Rajasthan Royals - his maiden T20 century in over 500 games. He has now accumulated 461 runs from 11 innings this season, already his best in the IPL. He averages over 40 runs per innings, but what takes the cake is the speed at which he collects his runs - an amazing strike-rate of 183.67.

‘Starts have been great'

After the match, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer was all praise for Narine and his alliance with Salt. "He [Narine] was splendid. The starts from the openers have been great. Pure bliss. We just want to keep continuing the momentum so that we get to great totals and be optimistic. It's all about freedom, to go out and express. Their mindset is positive.

Majority of the time, they've been good," said Iyer.

Narine, who was named Player of the Match, said: "The most important thing is starting well. The support staff has been backing me. It's been working for me, hope it works for the rest of the tournament. It's about picking what you're going to do on that particular day with your strengths, you have to be smarter. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't."

Credit is also due to the KKR bowlers, who bowled very well, as a result, the team are now on top of the table with 16 points from 11 games and just a win away from assuring themselves a berth in the Playoffs.

Spinners Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have bowled in tandem. They've been supported well by pacer Harshit Rana, who finished with creditable figures of 3-24 off 3.1 overs.

461
Runs in 11 matches

109
Highest score

41.91
Batting average

183.67
Batting strike-rate