Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan lavished praise on Sunil Narine for making remarkable contributions with both bat and ball in the eliminator against Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday in Sharjah.
Narine first scalped a four-wicket haul to help KKR restrict RCB at 138/7 in 20 overs and then chipped in with a 15-ball 26 that included three maximums in one single over of Dan Christian.
"He was outstanding. Both with bat and ball his impact was huge. He changed momentum in our favour when he went out to bat after the platform the guys had laid at the top of the order and I think he bowled as well as I have ever seen him, which is saying a lot. The guy has been consistently exceptional whenever he takes the field and always seems to take big wickets in the game," Morgan said in the post-match press conference.
Talking about the track, Morgan insisted that the pitch did have something on offer for the spinners.
"Narine is always working on his game. I don't think he was the only bowler to turn the ball. Varun Chakravarthy beat the bat a number of times, both inside and out, Yuzvendra Chahal did that as well. So I thought the wicket turned more than expected today," he said.
KKR eventually went over the line in the final over with two balls to spare and will now take on Delhi Capitals in the second qualifier on Wednesday in Sharjah.