New Delhi [India], April 30 : After his side's return to winning ways with a 14-run win over Delhi Capitals (DC) in the national capital, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper Ajinkya Rahane hailed senior spinner Sunil Narine, who bowled a game-changing spell for the defending champions, breaking the back of hosts' middle-order just when they looked set to carry their side to an easy win.
Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy unleashed their magic at the most perfect time possible, making DC collapse from 136/3 to 160/8 with a series of quick wickets during a 205-run chase at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Despite a fighting Vipraj Nigam cameo, DC was left 14 runs short of a victory and they continued their poor run at home.
Speaking after the match in the post-match presentation, Rahane said, "When Sunil came into the bowl and picked up two wickets, and when they lost three wickets in the middle, I thought that was the game for us. We felt we were short (with the bat). Sunil bowled well, good support from (Andre) Russell, and (Anukul) Roy bowled well. He has been doing well for us, thought let us back him."
Further speaking on Narine, Rahane called him a "champion bowler".
"Match-winner for us. As a captain, good to have him and Varun. Narine comes early for the practice sessions, working hard, batting as well. [Andre Russell] Dre as well is working hard on his bowling. He has been bowling yorkers in training and we thought we can back him. He has been fantastic for us, whenever he has bowled, he has picked up a wicket," he added.
Coming to the match, DC won the toss and opted to field first. Quick knocks from top four of Rahmanullah Gurbaz (26 in 12 balls, with five fours and a six), Sunil Narine (27 in 16 balls, with two fours and two sixes), skipper Ajinkya Rahane (26 in 14 balls, with four boundaries and a six), and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44 in 32 balls, with three fours and two sixes) and Angkrish's 61-run stand with Rinku Singh (36 in 25 balls, with three fours and a six) powered KKR to 204/9 in 20 overs.
Mitchell Starc (3/43), Vipraj Nigam (2/41) and skipper Axar Patel (2/27) were among the top bowlers for DC.
During the run-chase, DC was 60/3 after the powerplay, but a 76-run stand between Faf Du Plessis (62 in 45 balls, with seven fours and two sixes) and skipper Axar Patel (43 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) helped DC solidify their hold on the match. However, with the wicket of Axar by Narine started DC's downfall and they collapsed to 160/8. Vipraj Nigam (38 in 19 balls, with five fours and two sixes) tried to fight, but DC was restricted to 190/9 in 20 overs.
Narine (3/29) was the pick of the bowlers for KKR. Varun also delivered a spell of 2/39 in four overs. Anukul, Vaibhav and Russell took a wicket each.
Now, KKR is at seventh spot with four wins and five losses, giving them eight points. DC is in fourth place with six wins and four losses, with 12 points. At home, they have won just one out of four games so far.
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