Kolkata Knight Riders were on song on Wednesday, pipping the Delhi Capitals by a huge margin of 106 runs to extend their winning run in IPL 2024 to 3 matches. KKR rode on strong batting performances from Caribbean duo Sunil Narine and Andre Russell, and young Indian Angkrish Raghuvanshi to post a huge total of 272 runs. DC in reply were bundled out for 166 runs. After the match, KKR’s Caribbean duo had a ringside chat where they reflected on the win, discussed their batting strategies and heaped praises on young Angkrish.
Knights on a roll
Russell and Narine have been an integral part of the KKR set-up for over a decade. While Russell excels at the finishers’ role, Narine has reinvented himself as a pinch hitter. The latter played a wonderful innings of 85 off 39 balls to provide the Knights with a strong platform. After that, it was Russell and Angkrish who stole the show.
Great to do it in front of the big boss: Narine
Russell started the chat with a question to Narine. He asked, “How was it tonight? Smashing sixes, hitting boundaries after boundaries. Specially with SRK in the building, seeing everything live. How was it?“
“I think it was tough at the start. There was a lot of swing. Then you’re studying where the boundaries are coming from. But once you make contact with one or two balls, it forces the bowler to bowl in different areas. It was one of those days where everything clicks, and it’s great to do it in front of the big boss,” Narine said.
Narine motivation for Russell
Russell said Narine provided him with the motivation to go for big shots, and thanked Gautam Gambhir for sending him up the order.
“I think you gave me a good motivation to come out and smash it. I decided to take a few deliveries to see what’s going on, pick up the pace of the wicket but seeing the way you were hitting the ball, I was happy Gambhir gave me the opportunity to bat up the order. The most important thing is that we win by a 100+ runs so that’s good for our run rate,” Russell said.
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Nothing but praise for Angkrish
The Caribbean duo was highly impressed with Angkrish Raghuvanshi who smashed a stellar half-century on his debut.
“Angkrish has been showing his talent and what he can do in the nets. He works hard, he bats long and keeps going from strength to strength,” Narine said.
“I’m just happy for him. To come out and play with confidence and play the way he did in front of an amazing owner like Shah Rukh, that’s going to boost his confidence going forward in this tournament. So, very happy for him,” Russell added.