KKR vs RR | Twitter amused as Narine trumps Ashwin in absurd Tom-Jerry battle to score maiden ton

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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When elite athletes clash head-on, the outcome can often boil down to egos and self-awareness concerning strengths and weaknesses. Ravichandran Ashwin kept a calm head on Tuesday to squarely work out Sunil Narine's strategy and employed an absurd tactic thereafter, albeit with mixed results.

Kolkata Knight Riders put up another clinical batting effort at Eden Gardens against fellow table toppers Rajasthan Royals largely on the back of a rampant Sunil Narine. Having been restored as a pinch hitter at the top order in the ongoing season, the Caribbean phenom put the visitors' bowling to the sword and registered a maiden T20 ton, becoming only the third player to bring up the three-figure mark for the Purple Army after Brendon McCullum and Venkatesh Iyer. During the onslaught, Narine took a particular liking for the spinners, thus setting up a tactical battle for the ages with the wily Ravichandran Ashwin.

The back-and-forth began in the eighth over when Narine immediately struck the Indian for back-to-back boundaries before marginally missing out on a third. Realizing the opener's tendency to target the off-side, Ashwin decided to bring the long boundary into play in his next over by placing outfielders around the cover and point region while bowling consecutive deliveries wide of the stumps. The plan initially worked a couple of times when Narine tried to chase the ball but the 35-year-old then deceived his counterpart by staying put leading to a wide, before flaying the following straighter delivery for a maximum down the ground. 

Ashwin stuck with his plan in the ensuing over as well and fired in flat delivery inches inside the tram line to get away with a dot ball. However, the next five deliveries begot a maximum and two boundaries over Ashwin's head, once again handing the advantage to Narine. Under the pump, things became worse for Ashwin in his final over as he began with two wides on the off-side followed by a wide four down the leg side and eventually ended with figures of none for 49 in his four overs. Twitter was thoroughly entertained by the highly strategic battle and took little time to express their appreciation for the duo. 

Narine vs Ashwin

Bas review

Mass Narine

His reaction

the best

Artist

Good battrer

Full of surprise

Cooking this season

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