Sunil Narine dismissed Virat Kohli for the fourth time in the IPL.
After being asked to bat first, Kolkata Knight Riders have posted a formidable total of 204/7 on the board. Shardul Thakur (68) and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (57) made excellent half-centuries, whereas Rinku Singh also played well for his 46.
In reply, Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a rapid start. They posted 42 in the first four overs. However, KKR made a terrific comeback, picking two wickets in the space of four balls.
Virat Kohli played a sensational knock in the first game against Mumbai Indians. Even against KKR, he started well and was looking ominous. However, Sunil Narine bowled a ripper to send him back.
ICYMI – TWO outstanding deliveries. Two massive wickets.
Sunil Narine & Varun Chakaravarthy get the #RCB openers early on.
Follow the match – https://t.co/J6wVwbsfV2#TATAIPL | #KKRvRCB pic.twitter.com/GvL1U1GRWW
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 6, 2023
On his fifth ball of the spell, Narine bowled a fuller-length traditional off-break on the off-stump line. Virat Kohli couldn’t reach forward fully and tried playing across the line. The ball just turned and gripped a bit to uproot the off stump.
Narine’s ploy worked accurately. His earlier bowls in the over were relatively short in length. The wicket ball was the fullest of the over till that point which induced a false shot from Virat Kohli.
Sunil Narine has troubled Virat a lot, as the numbers also depict. Virat Kohli has faced 102 balls against Sunil Narine and has a strike rate of a mere 100 in the IPL. Moreover, Narine has dismissed him four times in the cash-rich league. Virat has played 40.19% dot balls against him.
KKR won the match convincingly by 81 runs in the end. Their spinners have scalped 9 of the ten wickets and looked at their threatening best. They will be pleased by the surface on offer.
There is enough purchase for the slow bowlers at Eden Gardens. The dismissals of Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis reflected the same.
