KKR vs PBKS: Sunil Narine and Phil Salt Go on a Rampage Against Punjab Kings to Set Record Opening-stand in IPL 2024

For the Kolkata Knight Riders, it was once again the opening duo of Philip Salt and Sunil Narine showcasing their prowess with the bat as they gave their side a fantastic opening stand against the Punjab Kings at the Eden Gardens to kick things off.

The opening pair of Narine and Salt, have managed to set the highest opening stand of 138 in just 63 balls in the IPL 2024 season. They surpassed the previous record held by Lucknow Super Giants’ opening duo of KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock who set a partnership of 134 runs in 90 deliveries against CSK.

Coming out to bat, KKR were off to a steady start with Narine striking the boundary in the first over to get the runs flowing. However, things only picked up from then on.

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PBKS were clueless as Narine looked to continue his good form with the bat ever since being promoted to the top of the order following the return of the former skipper Gautam Gambhir who is now the mentor of the franchise.

Salt did not shy away either as both ends were firing on all cylinders. After a quiet start in the first two overs, the Englishman also went all guns blazing as he went after the likes of Harshal Patel, Rabada and Sam Curran.

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Narine was just unbothered with what the conditions had to offer as he kept a simple view when batting. To clobber any of the deliveries which came into his hitting arc and he sure did punish the bowlers as he raced to a half-century in just 23 balls.

Meanwhile, Salt also looked to go on the offensive as he also raised his fifty in just 25 balls. The two also went on to raise their 100-run partnership in just 8.1 overs as KKR looks set to register yet another 200+ score. PBKS shot themselves in the foot with the various dropped catches which could prove to be a costly couple of mistakes later on.

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Rahul Chahar the leg-spinner finally got the breakthrough PBKS needed as Narine was dismissed trying to pull the short delivery over the boundary ropes at the mid-wicket region but found the fielder.