Kolkata Knight Riders wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock praised teammate and opening partner Sunil Narine’s impact following their commanding 8-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk Stadium in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL). In a one-sided affair, the defending champions dominated the contest from start to finish, restricting CSK to their lowest-ever home total of 104 runs before comfortably chasing down the target in just 10.1 overs. Kolkata spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy dictated the terms of play by weaving a perfect trap for Chennai batters. Narine, while maintaining his economical nature, made the most of the surface and returned with figures of 3/13. Meanwhile, Chakravarthy’s mystery overwhelmed Chennai as he registered figures of 2/22.

In the post-match press conference, de Kock highlighted the value that mystery spinners, Narine and Chakravarthy, bring to the team and said, “I think the two of them, the big thing that the value that they bring is the amount of variations they bring. Obviously both of them are mystery spinners. So it’s always mixing it up. I think it’s hard to line up shots against spin bowlers like that because you never know what you’re gonna get.”

After playing a starring role with the ball, Narine returned to open for Kolkata and went all guns blazing in the powerplay. He slammed 44 runs from a mere 18 deliveries at a monstrous strike rate of 244.44.

The South African keeper was particularly effusive about Narine’s contributions with the bat and added, “Obviously, Sunny, when he bats, he brings the X factor. I think every bowler knows he’s going to come hard.”

De Kock also provided insight into his batting partnership with the explosive Narine at the top of the order and remarked, “It’s just as soon as because he goes, he likes to go from ball one. I’ll just place one or two balls, giving the info of what’s happening. Initially, it’s pretty easy, you know, just trying to get him on strike.”

The 32-year-old wicketkeeper credited Narine’s success to his relentless work ethic and said, “He’s always at practice. I think he’s missed no practices, even optional practices, so he really does work on it, and when it comes off, it’s great means the team’s going to get a flyer.”

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