Kolkata Knight Riders opener Phil Salt has showered praise on his opening partner Sunil Narine. Salt said Narine frees the rest of them with his blistering batting. The West Indies all-rounder has been in sublime form in the ongoing IPL 2024 as he has delivered with both bat and ball.

The pugnacious left-hander has amassed 461 runs in 12 matches at an average of 38.42 and a blistering strike rate of 182.94. Furthermore, Narine has picked 15 wickets in 12 matches at an average of 20.80 and has bowled with an impressive economy rate of 6.64, which is the second-best in the tournament for any bowler who has played more than five matches.

“Our point of difference is we’ve got Sunny. He’s like playing with 13 players with his skill with bat and ball. So that really frees the rest of us to play the way we want to. Sunny is very chill, as am I in the middle. We know what we do well and we remind each other of that. Hopefully, we can keep it going,” Salt said before the clash against Gujarat Titans.

The Englishman said that mentor Gautam Gambhir wants them to play as a team and the former KKR skipper has played a key role in the success of the team.

“It is big for us. Chat before the game today was about not letting up, turn up with the right attitude. GG has been pretty solid with how he wants us to play as a team. He stressed on us to come here and still look for two points,” Salt added.

After the match against GT was abandoned due to rain, KKR assured their top-two finish whereas the Shubman Gill-led team was eliminated from the playoffs race.

Kolkata Knight Riders will next take on Rajasthan Royals at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Sunday.