Published: Sep 18, 2014, 06:33 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 18, 2014, 06:34 AM (IST)
Hyderabad: Sep 18, 2014
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Gautam Gambhir said Andre Russell and Ryan ten Doeschate played “unbelievable” knocks and also hailed spinner Sunil Narine for his economical spell, which according to him were instrumental in his side’s three-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) the Champions League Twenty20 opener.
Chasing a competitive 158 for win, Russell smashed a breathtaking 58, while Ryan ten Doeschate struck a fine unbeaten 51 to guide IPL champions KKR to a three-wicket win over CSK in their first Group A match. Narine too played his part with a misery spell of four overs during which he picked up one wicket giving away just nine runs.
“The way Russell batted, the way Ryan batted was unbelievable. I need to mention Sunil Narine, he is a special guy. Giving nine runs in four overs, always controls the game for us. This is one tournament we haven’t won. Guys are pretty motivated to go out there and turn it around for us,” Gambhir said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
“I think after the first 15 overs we thought we could have restricted them to an even smaller total. We didn’t start off well in the chase but we always knew it was a matter of a couple of good overs. We have a lot of depth in our line-up and a lot of firepower. We were looking to go hard at the top, it didn’t work,” he added.
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
