Credit: MLC
Sunil Narine is often referred as one of the greatest of all time when he dons the jersey of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for the Indian Premier League (IPL). But the mystery spinner’s outing for the Los Angeles Knight Riders (LAKR) in the Major League Cricket (MLC) 2025 is going through a rather dismal phase where he managed to take only two wickets in the five games the team has played so far. This season of the league, Narine even failed to create an impact with the bat, scoring just 27 runs. It’s not just Narine but the whole franchise that is going through a rough patch, as they just won a single game out of the eight matches that they played.
But, in their most recent match against MI New York (MINY), fortune favoured Sunil Narine as he scalped Quinton de Kock in the powerplay in the second innings of the game. From the start of the innings itself, it was quite a battle between these two players with de Kock hitting him for a six. He swivelled a pull shot on a short of a length ball around the off stump line. In his next over, Narine started the counter attack. He bowled a flighted good length delivery on which de Kock got beaten by the turn while playing it inside the crease, although since the ball being bowled outside leg stump line, the DRS from Narine was turned down.
Watch the video here:
Sunil Narine dismissed Quinotn de Kock in slips after two unsuccessful DRS calls
Next ball from Sunil Narine was good length delivery on the stumps around the wicket. Quinton de Kock got beaten again as the ball hit the front pad. The on-field umpire turned down their appeal, but as they went for review the ball-tracker showed that the ball just clipped the leg stump, resulting in the umpire's call. Although, on the third ball, the fortune favoured the Narine as de Kock moved away from the stump line to play that back of a length ball pitching outside the sixth stump. He got beaten by the turn and the ball struck the outside edge, resulting in a catch by Jason Holder at first slip.
Moreover, LAKR have just two matches left in the league stages of MLC 2025 after losing to MINY by eight wickets with 13 balls left while defending 154-run total. They are all-but out of the race to the playoffs, while the win over them have kept the flagging hopes alive for the MINY. Both the teams will again face-off each other on July 6 after that LAKR have to face San Francisco Unicorns in their last group stage match, which is a top-tier team this season.
