Bangalore: Kolkata Knight Riders have accepted the decision taken by the match officials against Sunil Narine, their premier offspinner, whose quicker ball was reported as suspect by the on-field umpires during the match against Dolphins in Hyderabad and are likely to field him in their XI for the semi-final against Hobart Hurricanes on October 2.
Narine has been put on the warning list, but is allowed to play on in the tournament. Narine had finished with figures of 3 for 33 on the day to script a 36-run victory for Knight Riders and is the highest wicket-taker in the tournament.
On Monday, Narine’s first over had gone for 12 runs including three fours and he was held in reserve for the later overs. Dolphins were recovering from a poor start with the middle-order pair of Khaya Zondo and Andile Phehlukwayo adding 44 runs when Narine returned. The equation read 77 runs to win from the last six overs.
Phehlukwayo,the 18-year-old left-hander from KwaZulu Natal, punished Narine for bowling short with consecutive boundaries off his second and third deliveries.
Considering the sensitive nature of the issue, officials from various teams have remained tight-lipped on the incident. (Agencies)