IPL 2019: All-round Narine, Gurney excel v Rajasthan Royals as KKR rise to top

Ajit Vijaykumar 21:48 07/04/2019
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  • Sunil Narine. Image: BCCI//SPORTZPICS.

    Kolkata Knight Riders leaped to the top of the IPL 2019 points table after a fine all-round display by Sunil Narine set the foundation of a comfortable eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Sunday.

    Batting first on a dry pitch, Rajasthan batsmen failed to get any momentum in the innings as they could only muster 139-3 despite a fifty from Steve Smith.

    English left-arm seamer Harry Gurney picked up 2-25 on his KKR debut, while Narine gave away just 22 runs from his four overs.

    The chase was over in a jiffy as Narine (47 off 25 balls) and Chris Lynn (50 off 32) raced to 91 for the opening wicket in the ninth over, before victory was sealed with eight wickets and 37 balls remaining.

    SLUGGISH PITCH

    The wicket in Jaipur was bone dry and offered bowlers substantial grip.

    That mean batsmen found the going tough against seamers and spinners alike. Leg-spinner Piyush Chawla opened the bowling for Kolkata and conceded just 19 runs from his four overs.

    Captain Ajinkya Rahane was trapped lbw by a skidder from quick Prasidh Krishna. But the bowler of the match turned out to be T20 veteran left-arm pacer Gurney.

    Bowling off-cutters from the start, the English left-armer even had innings top-scorer Smith (73 off 59) in a bind.

    Not a single Rajasthan batsman could gauge the pace of the pitch and even though they lost only three wickets, the push during death overs never came.

    Ben Stokes swung his bat around for 14 balls but only managed seven, which showed how tough it was out there. A total of 139-3 made for strange reading.

    GURNEY SHOWS HIS CLASS

    Gurney is a veteran of more than 120 T20 matches, picking up more than a wicket a game.

    Having made a name for himself mainly for being a slower ball specialist, Gurney exploited the conditions perfectly to offer Kolkata a brilliant seam bowling option.

    As wickets in India begin to show signs of wear and tear with the advancing summer and offer grip to anyone rolling their fingers over the ball, Gurney’s variations will be extremely difficult to negotiate.

    NARINE FINISHES IT OFF

    Teams continue to bowl spinners up front to Narine despite his superb strike rate of over 220 against them.

    Captain Rahane opened the bowling with off-spinner Krishnappa Gowtham and duly saw the bowler smashed for four fours and a six. That was the only over the offie bowled in the match, despite the wicket offering enough help.

    TWO REPRIEVES IN TWO BALLS

    Defending 130-odd is not impossible, as Mumbai Indians showed against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday by dismissing them for 96.

    But for that to happen, you need to take all you chances.

    In the first ball of the fourth over bowled by seamer Dhawal Kulkarni, opener Narine mis-hit a slower delivery to point where Rahul Tripathi grassed a sitter. Next ball, fellow opener Chris Lynn was beaten through the gate and the ball hit the leg stump. However, the bail didn’t budge as both Kolkata openers were given lives.

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