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Narine opened the innings for KKR on Saturday in the IPL 2025 opener against RCB and scored 44 runs from 26 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Sunil Narine becomes third batter to score 100 sixes in IPL for KKR. (Picture Credit: AP)
Legendary West Indies all-rounder Sunil Narine, who is playing for Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2025, joined Andre Russell in an elite list of batters on Saturday (March 22). During the first match of IPL 2025 for KKR against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Eden Gardens, Narine opened the innings for the Ajinkya Rahane-led side and scored 44 runs from 26 balls. During his stay at the crease, the 36-year-old left-handed batter hammered five fours and three sixes.
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The third six of the match, which he smacked on the fifth ball of the 10th over of the KKR’s innings bowled by Rasikh Salam Dar, helped Narine complete a century of sixes in the IPL for KKR. He is the third cricketer after Russell (206) and Nitish Rana (107) to score 100 or more sixes in the world’s richest franchise cricket league for the three-time champions.
Most sixes in the IPL for KKR
- Andre Russell – 206*
- Nitish Rana – 107
- Sunil Narine – 100*
- Robin Uthappa – 85
- Yusuf Pathan – 85
Narine, who made his debut in the IPL during the 2012 season under Gautam Gambhir’s leadership, was in red-hot form last season. He finished as the leading run scorer for Shreyas Iyer & Co. and helped them win the IPL title for the third time. For his superb show with the bat and ball in IPL 2024, Narine won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season award, and he was also retained by the Shah Rukh Khan-owned team ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Added 103 runs for 2nd wicket
In the first match of IPL 2025 for KKR, Narine added 103 runs for the second wicket with captain Ajinkya Rahane (56 runs from 31 balls). Rahane came out to bat at No. 3 for the defending champions after they lost wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock for just four runs on the fifth ball of the match. After taking some time to settle at the crease, Rahane changed gears and completed his fifty in just 25 balls. He was sent back to the pavilion by Krunal Pandya on the third ball of the 11th over of KKR’s innings.
The ongoing match against RCB is a special one for Rahane, as he became the first Indian player in IPL history to lead three teams. Before stepping out to lead KKR in Kolkata on Saturday, Rahane had led Rising Pune Super Giants in one IPL 2017 match and Rajasthan Royals in 24 IPL matches during the 2018 and 2019 season.