Kolkata Knight Riders captain Ajinkya Rahane credited veteran spinner Sunil Narine for swinging the match decisively in their favour against Delhi Capitals in the IPL match here on Tuesday. Chasing 205, Delhi looked well on track before Narine produced a game-turning 14th over, dismissing the dangerous Axar Patel and big-hitting Tristan Stubbs in quick succession. “When Sunil came into bowl and picked up two wickets, and when they lost three wickets in the middle, I thought that was the game for us,” Rahane said at the post-match presentation.

“He’s been a champion bowler for this franchise. A match-winner. As a captain, good to have him and Varun (Chakaravarthy).”

Narine, who finished with figures of 3/29 and was named Player of the Match, said he always backs himself, even when things aren’t going his way. Against DC, he was 0/25 after 2.1 overs before turning the tide with that pivotal 14th over.

“I still back myself to come back and deliver for the team. There are games you start early and struggle later and there are games you start late,” Narine said.

Delhi Capitals skipper Axar Patel felt his side gave away too many runs during powerplay.

“The way we bowled in the powerplay, thought we gave 15-20 too many. in the chase, there were some mis-calculations and soft dismissals.

“The way we restricted them after the powerplay was good. The way we batted, even if two-three batters did well, we lost by very little. When you lose close matches, you know you have to be calm in the middle.”

Axar had walked off the field during KKR’s batting after injuring his left hand.

“My hand dragged on the surface, so the skin peeled off. So whenever I tried batting, it was paining. We have three-four days gap before SRH game, so I hope to recover.”

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