Published: Oct 02, 2014, 10:49 PM (IST)
Edited: Oct 03, 2014, 07:26 AM (IST)
As Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) were in tatters against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the second semifinal of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014, news came out that Sunil Narine has been barred from bowling in the finals.
The news came as a rude surprise for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), who, following a streak of 14 wins, had easily gone past Hobart Hurricanes to reach the final thanks to some excellent batting from Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis.
With 12 wickets at an outrageous 8.83 and a hard-to-believe economy rate of 5.30, Narine has certainly been the pick of the bowlers in the tournament. The outcome will certainly hurt KKR badly, more so they had banked on a spin-dominated attack in the semifinal.
However, KKR can take heart from the fact that Narine had not done well in the two Indian Premier League (IPL) finals he had played; he had gone for 83 from eight overs and had managed a single wicket, so KKR should ideally not lose hope.
