Sunil Narine Overtakes Dwayne Bravo as Kolkata Knight Riders Race to Champions League Twenty20 Win
Sunil Narine produced his best for Kolkata Knight Riders in Champions League Twenty20 against Lahore Lions. KKR have now won 11 T20 matches on-the-trot.
Sunil Narine caught Lahore Lions batsmen in a web of spin as the Kolkata Knight Riders juggernaut continued to roll in the Champions League Twenty20 competition. The West Indian mystery spinner took three wickets for nine runs as Kolkata crushed Lahore by four wickets for their second straight win in the championship. (Match scorecard)
Narine produced his best bowling performance for Kolkata in CLT20. Only Lakshmipathy Balaji has recorded better performance than Narine for Kolkata in CLT20. The former India pacer took four wickets for 19 against Titans in Cape Town on October 21, 2012. (Also read: When Shoaib Malik treated Lahore teammates to dinner at wife Sani's house)
Narine, with 31 wickets at 8.74 runs apiece in 17 games, has set a bowling record for most wickets in Champions League Twenty20, obliterating the 28 in 19 games by Dwayne Bravo. The West Indian got his 10th Man of the Match award in Twenty20. ÂÂ
Like wine, Kolkata is getting better with time. The Gautam Gambhir-led team had won nine matches on-the-trot en route to clinching the Indian Premier League crown this year.
KKR have won 11 T20 games in succession between May 7, 2014 and September 21, 2014. However, the record for most consecutive wins in T20 is held by Sialkot Stallions -- 25 matches between February 24, 2006 and October 10, 2010!
Chasing 152 for a win, Gambhir (60 off 47 balls) scored his 35th fifty in Twenty20. It was his second for Kolkata in the CLT20. Gambhir's innings is his highest in nine innings for Kolkata in the CLT20.
In Hyderabad on Sunday night, Robin Uthappa and Gambhir were involved in a 100-run partnership. It was Kolkata's first century stand for the first wicket in the CLT20.
The partnership is Kolkata's second century stand for any wicket in CLT20, the first being 109 (unbroken) for the second wicket between Gambhir and Jacques Kallis versus Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium on September 29, 2011.
(With inputs from Rajesh Kumar)