New Delhi, April 9 -- By returning to Sunil Narine as their regular opener this season, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have left no room for ambiguity in their approach to the powerplay in an IPL campaign where teams are going harder than ever.

In the three matches out of four that Narine - a certainty in the team as KKR's lead spinner - has batted beyond the first six overs, their powerplay scores have read 85/0, 86/1 and 56/1. Even when KKR scored 56 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Monday - a relatively subdued run rate of 9.3 in comparison to 14-plus runs per over against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals -- before slowing down to a subpar 137/9, it was the highest powerplay total conceded by the defending champions in ...