KOLKATA, India, CMC- West Indies off-spinner Sunil Narine lived up to his billing and wasted little time in making his mark on the 2013 edition of the multi-million dollar Indian Premier League (IPL) which got going yesterday in Kolkata.
The wily right-armer picked up four for 13 from his four overs in a Man-of-the-Match performance to fire defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders to a convincing six wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils at Eden Gardens.
Opting to bowl first after winning the toss, the Knight Riders restricted Delhi to a paltry 128 all out off their 20 overs, with Narine ripping the innings apart.
Narine’s first over produced a breakthrough as he claimed the prized wicket of Australian opener David Warner for 21.
The spinner’s fifth delivery spat across Warner who was beaten for turn and edged to Jacques Kallis at slip.
He then returned to account for the dangerous Irfan Pathan and West Indies teammate Andre Russell for four, down the order.
The Knight Riders then reached their target with eight balls to spare, with opener Gautam Gambhir scoring 42.
Russell’s three overs of pace went for 24 runs.
Narine snatched 23 wickets in the IPL last year to emerge with the Player-of-the-Series honour.
Fourteen West Indians are featuring in this year’s IPL, among them Windies captain Darren Sammy, batsman Chris Gayle and fast bowler Fidel Edwards.
Today, Gayle, Ravi Rampaul and Chris Barnwell could all be in action for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Mumbai Indians who have Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith on their roster.
