Phil Salt and Sunil Narine gave Kolkata Knight Riders yet another fiery start against Punjab Kings, making them the most threatening opening pair across all T20s in 2024 and it has been a major reason for the side’s success this year, despite defeat against the Punjab Kings, writes Sarah Waris.

No one would have been able to predict KKR’s opening pair ahead of the ongoing IPL season. Sunil Narine’s batting prowess in the IPL had taken a dip after a successful few years and Phil Salt only came in as a last-minute replacement for Jason Roy a few days before the start of the season. Over the last few weeks, though, the duo have complemented each other well, emerging as the most fearsome opening duo in the competition.

Salt and Narine have combined to score 681 runs in the season, with their partnership averaging at 50.75. But consistency is not only what makes them click; it is the scoring rate that they maintain. They have a combined strike rate of 182.09, making KKR the only team with openers that have a strike rate over 150 in the 2024 IPL. Narine and Salt have also hit a combined 41 sixes, the most among all opening pairs.

Also Read: After years of batting struggle, Narine’s partnership with Salt can make him more hit than miss

Their partnership run rate is 12.36, which is the best among all opening pairs in this year’s league. It is also the second-quickest any opening pair (minimum seven games batted together) have scored their runs in the history of T20s.

A major reason for the success of the unlikely batting pair has been their contrasting strengths, which often push the opposition on the back foot. While Narine is traditionally stronger against the spinners, striking at 212 against them in this IPL, Salt has usually been more conservative against them, with a strike rate of 131.9. Salt, however, has taken on the quicks, striking at 191.2 against them, while Narine has been slightly more cautious.

It has resulted in explosive starts more often than not: Salt and Narine have combined to strike at 178.03 in the powerplay at an average of 56.71. Overall, KKR have a powerplay strike rate of 168.06, a huge jump from the strike rate of 120.48 the team had between 2020 and 2023.

Salt and Narine have also stitched together four fifty-plus stands together, including one partnership of 138 runs, the joint-most among all teams. It’s not always both of them clicking together, though. KKR have played eight games thus far and the only time both Narine and Salt made fifties in one game was against Punjab Kings on Friday. Both players have made four forty-plus scores each, but rarely in the same game.

It suggests how fearless they are and unafraid of getting dismissed but also how the other partner usually takes it as his responsibility to carry on if he has gotten a start, farming the strike usually. Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru at home on Sunday, the KKR openers made 56 in 4.2 overs, with Narine only contributing 10. In Visakhapatnam against Delhi Capitals, the two made 60 in 27 deliveries for the first wicket, with Salt only contributing 18 in 12.

It, thus, is rarely a case of both batters contributing together equally in an innings but rather clicking alone and maximising a good start, laying the platform for KKR.

Subscribe to the Wisden Cricket YouTube channel for post-match analysis, player interviews, and much more.