IPL 2024: Sunil Narine hits 21-ball fifty for KKR vs DC, continues revival as opener

Veteran spinner Sunil Narine's revival as opener in the Indian Premier League continued as he hit a 21-ball fifty for the Knight Riders against Delhi in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, April 3. Narine tore into the Delhi bowlers, hitting his fifty inside the powerplay as the visiting team posted 88 runs in the first overs, the highest total posted by a team against Delhi in the history of the tournament in the first six overs.

Sunil Narine hit 4 sixes and 6 boundaries when he got to the milestone, his first fifty in the IPL 2024 season. There was no respite for the likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Ishant Sharma, and Rasikh Dhar as captain Rishabh Pant looked rattled in the middle, unable to control the flow of the runs. | DC vs KKR Updates | Scorecard |

Sunil Narine hit 85 off 39 balls, hitting 7 sixes and as many boundaries in a sensational show of big-hitting. Co-owner Shah Rukh Khan, who was in Vizag, was up on his feet, lauding the monstrous knock from Narine, who unfortunately missed out on a well-deserved century.

Narine did not even score 100 runs overall in the last three seasons of the IPL, but he has been in sensational form at the top of the order for the Knight Riders in IPL 2024. It's not a coincidence that Narine's batting form has shot upward after the return of Gautam Gambhir, their former captain, as the mentor of the franchise in the new season.

It was also the joint 10th fastest fifty for Kolkata in the IPL. Pat Cummins, who is now leading the SunRisers, hit the fastest fifty for KKR in Pune against Mumbai in 2022. Suill Narine, in fact, held the record until 2022 as he had smashed a 15-ball fifty against RCB in Bengaluru in 2017.

Fastest FIFTIES FOR SUNIL NARINE IN IPL

1. 15 balls vs RCB in 2017
2. 17 balls vs RCB in 2018
3. 21 balls vs DC in 2024

Sunil Narine did struggle to put bat to ball in the first two overs as Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Shamra kept things tight. Narine was 1 off 6 before he switched gears and tore into the bowling attack. Narine switched gears in the 4th over of the contest, hitting 3 sixes and 2 fours in Ishant's over, which cost Delhi 26 runs.

Narine did not stop there as he took on Delhi's only spinner Axar Patel, hitting he left-armer for two sixes. Delhi badly missed Kuldeep Yadav, who was ruled out for the 2nd successive IPL match, as they did ot have someone to outfox Narine and stop the carnage.

Narine has had a terrific start to the IPL 2024 season. His 47 was crucial to Kolkata's comfortable chase of 182 against RCB in Bengaluru earlier in the week.