New Delhi [India], April 30 : Kolkata Knight Riders leading spinner Sunil Narine levelled former England spinner Samit Patel's record for most wickets in men's T20 cricket for one team following his match-winning spell against Delhi Capitals in the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
Narine turned the tide in Kolkata's favour with his sizzling three-wicket haul and lifted the defending champions to a 14-run triumph. He struck at crucial junctures and spun a web of traps that Delhi's middle-order batters had no answers to.
Following his match-winning exploits on Tuesday night, Narine's wicket-tally for Kolkata soared to 208 scalps, the joint-highest by any player for a team in men's T20 cricket. He is one shy away from bettering Samit Patel's tally of 208, which he achieved for Nottinghamshire.
Chris Wood comes in next with 199 scalps for Hampshire, followed by Sri Lankan maestro Lasith Malinga, who scythed 195 wickets for five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians during his tenure.
Despite facing a daunting 205-run target, DC was cruising in the chase with Faf du Plessis and skipper Axar Patel, who kept the defending champions at bay with their controlled aggression. The 76-run stand kept Delhi in the driver's seat, but the dynamics completely shifted in Kolkata's favour after Axar lost his precious wicket to the ever-effective Narine.
Axar leaned back to clear the ball over extra-cover. The ball struck the upper half of the bat, and Harshit Rana took a clean catch to put Axar's return ticket to the dressing room on 43(23). Tristan Stubbs' stumps were rattled following his failed attempt to flick the ball away.
Faf (62) made room for himself but didn't find the desired connection and dispatched the ball straight to Rinku Singh. Delhi lost its middle order within three overs, and Narine had three big fish to his name.
While Kolkata found solace in Narine's spell, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (44) and Rinku Singh (36) chipped in with handy contributions with their swift counter-attacking knocks in the first innings to clear KKR's way to 204/9.
Narine acknowledged the combined effort from the entire team in the post-match presentation and said, "It was a total team effort, we started in the middle overs with Anky (Angkrish) and Rinku with the bat. I still back myself to come back and deliver for the team. There are games when you start well and struggle, and then there are games that you do not begin well and end well."