Credit: IPL/X
Star Kolkata Knight Riders all-rounder Sunil Narine ended up taking a hat-trick in an IPL fixture against Kings XI Punjab (now known as Punjab Kings) at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on April 16, 2013. The leg spinner took back-to-back wickets of David Hussey, Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh Mann respectively in the 15th over. However, it didn’t come in a winning cause as KKR failed to chase a target of 158 runs.
Talking about the match, batting first, KXIP kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Mandeep Singh scoring 41 runs off 30 balls, hitting six boundaries. KKR were at 99 for 3 before Sunil Narine struck to dismiss David Hussey for 12(15) runs on the fourth ball of the 15th over. After that, Narine dismissed Azhar Mahmood with an easy return catch to take two consecutive wickets in two balls. On the last ball of the over, Narine cleared Gurkeerat Singh Mann’s stumps to complete a famous IPL hat-trick.
Manpreet Gony’s quickfire 42 runs guided KXIP to winning total
After Sunil Narine’ hat-trick, Kings XI Punjab were reduced to 99 for 6 after 15 overs. However, Manpreet Gony replied with fiery 42 runs off 18 balls as Punjab posted a total of 157 runs at the loss of nine wickets. Gony smashed four fours and three sixes during his knock. For KKR, Sunil Narine and Jacques Kallis took three wickets each, Sachithra Senanayake took two while Lakshmipathy Balaji put one in his bag.
Chasing the winning target, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir scored 60(39) runs, hitting nine boundaries while Eoin Morgan contributed with 47 runs off 38 balls with six fours. However, none of the other batters could play a big knock as KKR were restricted to 153/9, losing the game by a mere four runs.
