Sunil Narine's abilities as a pinch-hitter has been on view on a couple of occasions this IPL season, but nothing could have prepared Royal Challengers Bangalore for his onslaught on Sunday.
His 15-ball fifty propelled KKR to a convincing six-wicket victory at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, leaving the opponent gasping for breath.
“He has shown that he is more than just a bowler in this tournament,” RCB's Travis Head said afterwards. “He has been unbelievable in some of the hitting. He batted beautifully against us in the earlier fixture too (April 8).
“No one is taking him lightly. We didn’t bowl too well to him (Narine) and we gave him an opportunity. He has shown that he’s a pretty good allrounder for Kolkata.”
Narine's opening partner, Chris Lynn, was no slouch either, and Head admitted that few in cricket struck the ball harder than his compatriot.
“I don’t think so (anyone hits it as hard as he). He has that reputation and he has done that in the BBL. Even here he has shown that he’s an unbelievable hitter of the ball,” he said.
Narine and Lynn's assault had not been planned, KKR's Piyush Chawla stated. “The idea was just to go and play the natural game. There was no plan to attack. We thought the target was 15-20 runs more than what it should have been.
“But the way Lynn and Narine batted, they took the game away from RCB in the first six overs itself,” the leg-spinner said.
The target had not been a mediocre one, Head felt. “I thought we got a good score; about par for this wicket,” he said.
“We've just not been able to get any momentum throughout this season. Nothing off the field has changed since last season. Everyone has worked hard but we just haven't jelled on the field.”
