KKR defeats the Royals 223 for 6 thanks to Narine’s century

At a crowded Eden Gardens on Tuesday, Sunil Narine scorched to his maiden IPL century as the Kolkata Knight Riders gave the Rajasthan Royals a target of 224.

The 35-year-old southpaw chose to show off his batting prowess on Tuesday after reaching the three-figure mark off only 49 deliveries with 11 fours and six sixes. A few days before, he had delivered numbers of 4-0-17-1 against the Lucknow Super Giants. Trent Boult’s cunning was ultimately needed to remove him in the 18th over for a 56-ball 109. For a Knight, it was their first century in front of their own supporters.

Narine, who joined KKR 12 years ago, has many outstanding performances to his credit, but on Tuesday, he gave an unusual demonstration of passion to convey how much the achievement meant to him.

The opening batsmen for KKR initially struggled to establish their rhythm, with both Boult and Avesh Khan hitting the mark right away. If Riyan Parag hadn’t dropped a simple offering at gully on the second ball of the match, Phil Salt would have been out. The Englishman was unable to take full advantage of the break as Avesh produced a superb catch off his own bowling.

Angkrish Raghuvanshi, the new player, was immediately effective as he clipped Boult off his pads for a four to mid-wicket and then hit another through point.

In the meanwhile, Narine was blossoming, announcing the attack in the last Powerplay over with a six and a four off Kuldeep Sen. Raghuvanshi was looking well with five elegant boundaries when he was caught attempting another bold shot, an 18-ball 30.

At the other end, wickets dropped quite often, but Narine maintained the tempo.

Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin both missed opportunities to gain ground in the middle overs.

A tremendous clamor greeted Andre Russell’s arrival, but he too vanished after making a major promise.

Amidst the chaos, Avesh finished with remarkable stats of 4-0-35-2, with the huge guy reaching for a square-cut that went straight to deep backward point. Rinku Singh made a classic cameo of 20 off nine balls, hitting one four and two sixes to stay undefeated.

The Royals face a formidable opponent, but they have the batters to rise to the occasion.