Published: Apr 30, 2025, 10:29 AM (IST)
Edited: Apr 30, 2025, 10:29 AM (IST)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane credited veteran spinner Sunil Narine for swinging the match in their favour against Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Arun Jaitley stadium on Tuesday. Chasing 205, Delhi looked well on track before Narine produced a game-turning spell of 3/29 and dismissed the dangerous Axar Patel and big-hitting Tristan Stubbs in quick succession.
“When Sunil came into bowl and picked up two wickets, and when they lost three wickets in the middle, I thought that was the game for us,” Rahane said at the post-match presentation.
“He’s been a champion bowler for this franchise. A match-winner. As a captain, good to have him and Varun (Chakaravarthy),” Rahane added.
The KKR all-rounder was adjudged as the Player of the Match for his brilliant spell of 3/29. Following the match, Narine stated that he backs himself even when things aren’t going his way.
“I still back myself to come back and deliver for the team. There are games you start early and struggle later and there are games you start late,” Narine said.
DC captain Axar Patel stated that his side ended up giving too much runs in the powerplay which led to KKR posting a total that went on to be too much for the hosts.
“The way we bowled in the powerplay, thought we gave 15-20 too many. in the chase, there were some mis-calculations and soft dismissals,” Axar said.
“The way we restricted them after the powerplay was good. The way we batted, even if two-three batters did well, we lost by very little. When you lose close matches, you know you have to be calm in the middle,” Axar added.
