Narine the perennial saviour as KKR look up to him to stem the flow of runs

Sunil Narine, the talismanic cricketer in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) ranks, might not have succeeded in guiding his franchise to victory against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the IPL match at the Brabourne Stadium on April 10, but the West Indian certainly proved that he was a class apart in a team dotted with superstars.

Just when it seemed that Delhi Capitals were about to blast off like a rocket and amass a mammoth total, Narine was pressed into service quite early, and the 33-year-old, who has made deception his mantra and pressure his ally, bowled astutely to make it difficult for the likes of Rishabh Pant and Australian David Warner to line him up.

Narine bowled on a back of a length, at times quicker and flatter, with his last two overs just going for four runs as he picked up the wicket of Lalit Yadav, a plumb LBW call after the batter missed a back-of-a-length delivery hitting the middle stump.

He then snared the big-hitting Rovman Powell in his last over, after he slogged a full ball on off stump only for the substitute fielder Rinku Singh to hold on to a fine catch at fine leg.

It was only after his incisive 14th and 16th overs, and Umesh Yadav's 17th, that Delhi Capitals' run-rate dipped below 10-an-over for the first time in the innings and restricted them to 215/5, which at one point looked to breach the 250-mark.