On this day in 2017, Sunil Narine smashed the joint fastest fifty in the history of IPL as he scored 54 off just 17 balls. The amazing knock took Kolkata Knight Riders beyond the hapless Royal Challengers Bangalore team by six wickets. The win enabled KKR to take the playoffs berth also.
Sunil Narine had been a revelation at the opening spot with his style of unorthodox hitting that leaves the bowlers in a confused state. RCB bowlers also had no answer in front of the rampaging Narine who reached his fifty in just 15 balls, equalling the record set by Yusuf Pathan in 2014 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The West Indian opener was incredibly well supported by his Australian opening partner Chris Lynn. Not too far from what Narine managed, Lynn also scored a half-century from just 22 balls. With the duo on fire, they together managed to construct 105 runs partnership from just 6.1 overs which made a mockery of the 159 runs target. They cruised home with 29 balls remaining.
The major victims of the Narine-Lynn fury were Yuzvendra Chahal (4-0-39-1), Sreenath Aravind (1-0-26-0) and Samuel Badree (3-0-40-0). The KKR batting duo also registered the record of the highest powerplay total in the IPL as they were 105 for no loss at the end of the first six overs.
The starting ignition was provided by Lynn who began the carnage as he hit Aniket Choudhary for two fours and a six in the first over. He continued in the same vein by smashing another six and two fours in the third over bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal.
The first two balls that Narine faced were dot balls but he sent the home crowd to a stunning silence in the fourth over by hitting three successive sixes and a four to snatch 25 runs from Badree.
The next over of Aravind went for four boundaries and a six to take Narine to his fifty. Lynn then took over and picked Chahal for the special treatment as he took 20 runs from the bowler with a four and two sixes to notch up the record of most runs in powerplay.
Narine got out immediately after that and Lynn followed suit in the next over but by then the match was safe in the pockets of KKR. Manish Pandey later completed the formalities as KKR reached 159 in just 15.1 overs.
Earlier, Travis Head smashed a brilliant unbeaten 75 after Mandeep Singh’s 52 as RCB recovered from a top-order collapse to post 158 for six after being put into bat. The big names like Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, and AB de Villiers were dismissed cheaply as RCB slumped to 34 for three in the fifth over. Mandeep (52) and Head then stitched 71 runs for the fourth wicket to take the score past 150-run mark.
Watch the video here:
Narine's fastest IPL fifty…!!https://t.co/NoKr2i9kQg
— Videos Shots (@videos_shots) May 7, 2018
