Matthew Hayden praised Sunil Narine‘s valiant all-round performance in the IPL 2024 match between KKR and PBKS on April 26 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Despite Narine’s brilliance with bat and ball, KKR suffered their third defeat this season, losing by 8 wickets to PBKS.
Narine smashed 71 runs off just 32 balls, including 9 fours and 4 sixes, after Punjab won the toss and invited KKR to bat first. He and Phil Salt put on a massive 138-run partnership in 10.2 overs. Later, Narine took 1 wicket for 24 runs in his 4 overs. However, his efforts were not enough to prevent PBKS from chasing down 262, the highest successful run chase in T20 history.
“I can relate to Narine on the pain of losing a match even after you put your best performance. Seeing him hit the most fours yet still lose must have felt like salt in his wounds. Despite the loss, he is still doing his job well, averaging 49 in this IPL,” Matthew Hayden said.
The Windies bowler has been the most reliable player for KKR in IPL 2024. The all-rounder tops both the batting and bowling charts for the Knights. He has scored 357 runs in 8 matches at an average of 44.62 and strike-rate of 184.02. He has also taken 10 wickets while conceding just 6.96 runs per over.
“Sunil Narine has surprised everyone by his great batting , despite being known as a mystery bowler. Narine has proven himself to be more than just a bowler. I heard how much hard work he puts into his batting practice. His batting is tragic. While Narine’s bowling still defines him, his growth as a batter has been impressive,” he concluded.