Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their third Indian Premier League (IPL) title. The last time they won an IPL title was in 2014 when Gautam Gambhir was captain. In IPL 2024, Gambhir joined the franchise and with Shreyas Iyer as their captain KKR won the final after 10 years. Another constant in KKR’s three IPL title wins is Sunil Narine. The Caribbean spin all-rounder Narine and Gambhir have been often teased for not smiling enough even when things are going their way. On May 26, the two were smiling and lifting each other after KKR’s one-sided win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
At MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, Narine was clinical in his approach. If not for Mitchell Starc dropping the catch, he would have got skipper Pat Cummins' wicket. In his last over of the spell, Narine trapped tailender Jaydev Unadkat in front of the wickets. He departed for a single-digit score. The mystery spinner conceded just 16 runs from his quota of four overs.
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Later, in the run chase, he hit a six off the first ball he faced. He went for another big hit but got caught by Shahbaz Ahmed.
However, Narine’s wicket did not affect KKR’s run chase. After bowling out SRH for 113, the lowest score in IPL final, KKR won the game by eight wickets with 57 balls to spare.
Narine's unreal IPL 2024 numbers
Narine turned out to be KKR's second-highest run-scorer in IPL 2024. He scored 488 runs from 15 games at an average of 34.86 including one century and three half-centuries. His strike rate is 180.74. He is also KKR's third-highest wicket-taker in the tournament. He took 17 wickets at an average of 21.64. His economy rate was a sensational 6.69 runs per over.
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