KOLKATA, India, CMC – Man-of-the-Match Sunil Narine grabbed a brace of wickets and then struck a timely cameo to help Kolkata Knight Riders dispose of West Indies counterpart Dwayne Bravo’s Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the Indian Premier League here Thursday.
Opting to bowl first at Eden Gardens, KKR restricted Super Kings to 177 for five off their 20 overs, with Narine picking up two for 20 from his four brilliant overs of off-spin.
Captain MS Dhoni top-scored with 43 from 25 deliveries, opener Shane Watson got 36 while Suresh Raina chipped in with 31.
Australian Watson put on 48 for the first wicket with South African Faf du Plessis (27) and 43 for the second with Raina before holing out to mid-wicket in the 11th over off Narine. When three overs fell for 28 runs, Dhoni put on 54 for the fifth wicket with Ravi Jadeja (12) to rally the innings.
Asked to chase a challenging total, KKR lost Chris Lynn cheaply for 12 with as many on the board at the end of the opening over.
But Narine provided the hosts’ early runs, facing 20 deliveries and crunching four fours and a pair of six, as KKR staged a partial recovery.
When the left-handed Trinidadian fell to a catch in the deep in the seventh over off Jadeja’s left-arm spin, KKR were 64 for three and they slipped to 97 for four in the 12th over after Rinku Singh departed for 16.
However, Shubman Gill struck an unbeaten 57 from 36 balls in an 83-run, unbroken fifth wicket stand with captain Dinesh Karthik (45 not out), to see KKR home with 14 balls left in the contest.
Bravo had a limited role, sending down just 10 deliveries which cost 24 runs.