KKR Vs RR, IPL 2024: Sunil Narine Hits His First Indian Premier League Century

Sunil Narine became the third Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) player to score a century in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The West Indian cricketer from Trinidad and Tobago achieved the feat during KKR's home match against Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on Tuesday (April 16, 2024). (Live Blog | Streaming)

Opening the batting with Philip Salt, Narine raced to a century in just 49 balls before eventually getting out for 109 in 56 balls (13 fours and six sixes). Thanks to his brilliant knock, the Shreyas Iyer-led KKR crossed the magical 200-run mark. In the second innings of tonight's IPL match, the two-time winners will defend 223/6 against the inaugural champions, now led by Sanju Samson.

Thanks to his maiden T20 century, Narine has entered the top five of the scorers' chart. His tally of 276 in six innings is now the third highest, only behind Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) and Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals). Kohli, the all-time leading scorer in the history of IPL, has 361 runs in six innings.

Parag, meanwhile, entered tonight's match with 284 runs in six outings. Rajasthan Royals captain Samson was fourth with 264 runs, three more than Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma. The highest scorer in the IPL gets to wear the purple cap.

In IPL 2024 so far, five players have scored centuries -- Kohli (113), Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler (100), Rohit (105), Sunrisers Hyderabad's Travis Head (105) and Narine (109).

Narine, 35, is only the third Kolkata Knight Riders player to hit a century in the IPL. Brendon McCullum played a sensational knock in the very first IPL match in 2008 to compile an unbeaten 158 against RCB in Bengaluru.

And it took 15 years for another KKR player to reach the three-digit scores. Last season, Venkatesh Iyer hit 104 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium.

Sunil Narine, who batted left-handed, has 1322 runs in 168 IPL matches. He also has 168 wickets with best bowling figures of 5/19.

Tonight's IPL match is a top-of-the-table clash. Rajasthan Royals, with five wins in six matches, lead the 10-team IPL points table. But Kolkata Knight Riders can overtake them with a win. They have four wins in five matches and a superior net run rate of +1.688, as against RR's +0.767.