IPL 2024 - KKR's Sunil Narine smashes maiden 100; gets applause from Shah Rukh Khan and smile from Gautam Gambhir

Match 31 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at Eden Gardens witnessed all-rounder Sunil Narine deliver a remarkable performance, smashing his maiden T20 century in just 49 balls. However, his impressive innings came to an end at the hands of Trent Boult, as he scored 109 runs off 56 balls.

IPL hundreds for KKR:

158* - Brendon McCullum vs RCB, Bengaluru, 2008

105* - Sunil Narine vs RR, Kolkata, 2024

104 - Venkatesh Iyer vs MI, Mumbai WS, 2023

Nevertheless, Narine's explosive batting included 13 fours and 6 sixes, delighting the home crowd and co-owner Shah Rukh Khan alike. Additionally, he even managed to bring a smile to Gautam Gambhir's face, who embraced the batter for his outstanding knock. Fans also took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to shower praise on the West Indian for his innings.

In the clash, KKR scored 223 runs for the loss of six wickets in their allotted 20 overs, after being asked to bat first by RR. Philip Salt (10 off 13), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (30 off 18), Shreyas Iyer (11 off 7), Andre Russell (13 off 10), and Venkatesh Iyer (8 off 6) all contributed with small cameos. Rinku Singh remained not out for 20 off 9 towards the end.

ALSO READ | IPL 2024 - Chinnaswamy gives Dinesh Karthik a standing ovation for his 83 run-knock

While the home team remained unchanged at Eden Gardens, RR made changes as Jos Buttler and R Ashwin were available for this game and made a comeback.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Philip Salt(w), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer(c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana

Impact Subs: Suyash Sharma, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Vaibhav Arora

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Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Subs: Jos Buttler, Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Nandre Burger