Happy Birthday Sunil Narine: 5 best IPL moments of KKR’s mystery spinner – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Kolkata Knight Riders’ mystery spinner Sunil Narine has completed a decade playing for the franchise and has been one of the mainstays of the Knights’ bowling attack for years. After making his debut in 2012, the Trinidad and Tobago man has proved himself to be a strong pillar of strength in the KKR lineup. Of late, his batting feats have come to the fore more than his bowling.

During the 10 years of his Indian Premier League career, Narine produced many match-winning knocks for the Kolkata-based franchise. In the middle of his journey, he suffered a tough time because of his unique bowling action. He was called for a suspect action which forced him to modify his delivery skill. But Narine redeemed himself back and came back harder with his batting capabilities. After some blazing knocks, he was promoted up in the batting order to open the innings for the KKR side. Eventually, he became a name of threat to the opposition in the early phase of the game.

The West Indian spinner has already completed playing 148 games in the Indian Premier League. He has not only scalped a total of 152 wickets but also recorded 1,025 runs. The franchise reposed faith in his all-round abilities and retained him ahead of the mega auction of IPL 2022. However, this year was not one of the great ones for Narine. In his 14 appearances, he only managed to pick up 9 wickets and scored just 71 runs.

One of the core members of the KKR family, Sunil Narine turns 34 today, 26 May. On his birthday, let’s take a tour of some of Sunil Narine’s remarkable moments in the Indian Premier League:

• 5 wickets for 19 runs vs Kings XI Punjab in 2012: Back in IPL 2012, Sunil Narine bagged a five-wicket haul against Kings XI Punjab at KKR’s home Eden Gardens. He picked up the wickets of Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Marsh, Bipul Sharma, Praveen Kumar and Harmeet Singh during his four economical overs. However, KKR lost the game by 2 runs.
• 4 wickets for 13 runs vs Delhi Daredevils in 2013: It was the first game of the 2013 IPL when Sunil Narine scythed through the batting lineup of Delhi Daredevils. During his 4-wicket haul, the off-breaker got David Warner, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and Shahbaz Nadeem.
• 4 wickets for 19 runs vs Kings XI Punjab in 2015: Once again, against the Punjab-based franchise, Sunil Narine turned out to be lethal and picked up 4 crucial wickets to help his team clinch a much-needed victory. He got Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra, Wriddhiman Saha and Glenn Maxwell and KKR won the tie by a wicket in the penultimate ball.
• 75 runs off 36 deliveries vs Kings XI Punjab in 2018: Sunil Narine came in handy with the willow in 2016. Against Kings XI Punjab, the KKR all-rounder smashed 75 runs from 36 deliveries and helped his side post a mammoth 245 runs on board in 20 overs. The mesmerising knock was laced with 9 boundaries and 4 maximums.
• 64 runs off 32 deliveries against Delhi Capitals in 2020: Coming in at no. 5 in Abu Dhabi’s tricky track, Narine ripped into the Delhi bowlers to score 64 runs including 6 boundaries and 4 sixes. The massive show took KKR to 195 runs in the first innings and in reply, Delhi Capitals only managed to reach 135 runs in their stipulated overs.

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