Hardik Pandya of the Mumbai Indians (MI) replied in style after Sunil Narine hit a six to begin his stint against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The all-rounder hit the opening batter’s leg stump to extend KKR’s agony in the powerplay at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday.
MI had made an excellent start to the tournament by choosing to bowl first. Nuwan Thushara hit three times in his first two overs, leaving KKR struggling at 28/3 at one point. Despite the loss of wickets, KKR refused to abandon the powerplay overs and maintained their onslaught.
The fourth over yielded nine runs, and Hardik Pandya joined the assault. The all-rounder delivered a short delivery to Narine’s body first, and the opener hit a six over the deep square leg fielder. Hardik Pandya pitched the following delivery a little farther and adjusted his line slightly. As a result, Sunil Narine attempted to create space but was unable to establish touch.
View the dismissal right here:
Sunil Narine was removed for eight runs in as many deliveries, with only one boundary to show for it. KKR’s dilemma intensified as Rinku Singh followed suit immediately after Piyush Chawla’s powerplay. With the score at 57/5 in the seventh over, the visitors were obliged to employ an impact sub in the first innings, with the seasoned Manish Pandey replacing Angkrish Raghuvanshi.
Sunil Narine has never recorded double figures at the Wankhede Stadium
In the IPL, the Caribbean ace has a poor record at the Wankhede Stadium. In ten innings at the location, the left-handed batter has only scored nine runs.
Prior to the current match, Narine had 30 runs at an average of 5.00 and a strike rate of 96.77. However, all of these attempts occurred when he batted in the middle or lower middle order.
This was his first time opening at the Wankhede Stadium, although it didn’t help his record there.
