KKR's Sunil Narine overtakes R Ashwin to become fifth highest wicket-taker in IPL

Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) all-rounder Sunil Narine leapfrogged Ravichandran Ashwin to become the fifth-highest wicket-taker in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Narine achieved the landmark during KKR's clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the IPL 2024 Qualifier 1 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday. During the game, Narine picked up one wicket in his four-over spell for 40 runs. He dismissed Sanvir Singh in the 14th over for a golden duck.

Currently, Yuzvendra Chahal is the highest wicket-taker in the history of the IPL, he has 204 wickets after appearing in 158 matches. Narine has picked up 179 wickets after playing 174 matches. On the other hand, Ashwin has played 210 matches as of now in the IPL and has taken 178 wickets.

Summarizing the match between KKR and SRH, Sunrisers Hyderabad elected to bat first. After being reduced to 39/4 following an incredible powerplay spell by Mitchell Starc, a 62-run stand between Rahul Tripathi (55 in 35 balls, with seven fours and a six) and Heinrich Klaasen (32 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) helped SRH cross the 100-run mark. But wickets kept falling for Sunrisers as bowlers were able to maintain pressure on KKR. A late cameo from skipper Mitchell Starc (30 in 24 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took SRH to a respectable 159 in 19.3 overs.

Starc was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, with a spell of 3/34 in four overs, once again making an impact during the big stages. Varun Chakravarthy also picked up 2/26 in four overs. Vaibhav Arora, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Vaibhav Arora got a wicket each.

In the run-chase of 160 runs, a 44-run partnership between openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz (23 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Sunil Narine (21 in 16 balls, with four boundaries) provided a fine platform to KKR. Attacking half-centuries from skipper Shreyas Iyer (58* in 24 balls, with five fours and four sixes) and Venkatesh Iyer (51* in 28 balls, with five fours and four sixes) made a mockery of SRH's bowling and run-chase, winning the game by eight wickets with 38 balls to go.

With this win, KKR has earned a direct spot in the final, while SRH has one more shot at the title clash and will play in Qualifier two against the winner of the eliminator match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) taking place on Wednesday.