Sharjah: Kolkata Knight Riders’ hero in the match-winning performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore, West Indian all-rounder Sunil Narine, has said that getting Virat Kohli’s wicket and tying his side down had given him immense satisfaction.
Narine ran through the RCB batting line-up, snaring the wickets of the well-set Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, South African stalwart AB de Villiers and Srikar Bharat, as he returned figures of 4-0-21-4 to guide the two-time IPL champions to a four-wicket win Monday.
“I enjoy all wickets, but getting Kohli and tying them (RCB) was my goal. It was a total team effort,” said Narine during the post-match press conference, adding that, “Definitely (one of the greatest T20 performances). When you perform, and the team comes out winning.”
Narine played a stellar role with the bat as well when the chips were down, slamming a 15-ball 26, which included three consecutive sixes off Dan Christian in the 12th over, before he was clean bowled by Mohammed Siraj.
“I am prepared to be out first ball. Some days it comes off, some days it doesn’t,” the West Indian said of his quick-fire 26.
KKR skipper Eoin Morgan too praised Narine’s batting effort, saying, “When it comes off (with our batting order), it looks quite deep. Narine is a cool customer and is very level-headed.”
On whether it will be an advantage to play in Sharjah against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 Wednesday, Morgan said, “For us, it is a matter of coming back and adjusting. We are looking forward to it.”
