By Razeen Gutta
Kolkata Knight Riders thrashed the Lucknow Super Giants for the second time this season to go top of the Indian Premier League standings on Sunday.
Sunil Narine was the star, hitting 81 off just 39 balls with the bat before taking a wicket with the ball as KKR beat KL Rahul and company by 98 runs in Lucknow.
Batting first, the visitors put 235/6 on the board in their 20 overs — the highest T20 score ever at the Ekana Sports City stadium.
In response, the hosts could only manage 137 runs before being blown away by a fine KKR bowling attack that was relentless on all fronts.
The result sends KKR to the summit of the standings, level on points with the Rajasthan Royals who take on the Delhi Capitals on Tuesday.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s recent form means they can still sneak a place in the top four.
Faf du Plessis’ side beat the Gujarat Titans by four wickets on Saturday, propelling them from last place into seventh.
RCB have now won three games in three, and they will know that should they win another three games on the bounce, their chances of progressing will be a lot better than they would have imagined a few weeks ago.
The playoff spots are all still up for grabs with only Mumbai Indians out of the race entirely.
Hardik Pandya’s team can still throw a spanner in the works of the other sides’ plans of progression, though, beginning on Monday with a home game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Pictured above: Kolkata Knight Riders
Image source: @kkriders
