Kolkata Knight Riders owner Shah Rukh Khan turned cheerleader as he cheered Sunil Narine’s sensational 39-ball 85, which played a key role in securing victory for his side in the IPL 2024 match against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday. Narine provided the perfect start to the innings for KKR and along with youngster Angkrish Raghuvanshi, he stitched together a 104-run partnership that took the total to a mammoth 272/7 in 20 overs. KKR owner and Bollywood superstar SRK was present and he was captured on camera applauding the veteran all-rounder’s explosive effort.
A dominant Kolkata Knight Riders produced a brilliant bowling performance after their batters’ sensational display of power-hitting as they defeated a lackluster Delhi Capitals by 106 runs to move to the top of the IPL table.
Sunil Narine showcased his batting prowess with a blistering 85, while teenager Angkrish Raghuvanshi (54 off 27) impressed with a fluent fifty on his IPL batting debut as KKR posted an imposing 272/7, five runs short of the highest total in the history of the tournament.
Stand ovation for Sunil Narine from the crowd for a brilliant innings#DCvsKKR #IPL pic.twitter.com/ceDQOl3Ik2
— (@Retired_hurt) April 3, 2024
The Capitals never looked like they were in the game, whether it was with the ball or the bat. They collapsed under the pressure of the huge total.
Captain Rishabh Pant (55) scored his second successive half-century while Tristan Stubbs (54) also hit a fifty, but it was a lost cause as DC folded for 166 in 17.2 overs to suffer their third defeat of the season.
Narine continued his explosive run and punished all Delhi bowlers by sending the ball over the boundary rope seven times. He also hit seven fours in his 39-ball stay. The Capitals were guilty of dropping him on 53 and Narine made his opponents suffer as he achieved his highest ever score in T20 cricket.
Raghuvanshi (54 off 27 balls), who did not bat in his first IPL match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, was also firing on all cylinders, complementing Narine as the pair shared an explosive 104-run stand off 48 balls.
With Andre Russell (41 off 19 balls) and Rinku Singh (26 off 8 balls) also getting the big hits, batting looked like child’s play for KKR.
With the ball, pacer Vaibhav Arora and KKR’s record signing Australian fast bowler Mitchel Starc deflated the chase in the powerplay itself as they lost Delhi’s top four of Prithvi Shaw (10), Mitchell Marsh (0), Abhishek Porel (0). and David Warner (18).
Pant and Stubbs formed a partnership of 93 runs, and although they managed to score quickly, the required run rate rose to over 20 runs per over and only one result was possible.
Earlier, Delhi bowlers produced a forgettable performance as they conceded the highest total in the team’s history. KKR hit as many as 18 sixes and 28 fours.
(With PTI inputs)
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