Sunil Narine became the third bowler to take more than 200 wickets in the IPL (Reuters Photo)

200 for Sunil Narine: KKR great becomes first overseas bowler to hit double ton

IPL 2026: Sunil Narine became only the third bowler to go past 200 wickets in the Indian Premier League. The West Indies great took two wickets in a disciplined bowling effort from Kolkata Knight Riders in Hyderabad on Sunday, May 3.

03 May 2026, 12:11 by Akshay Ramesh · India Today

In Short

Sunil Narine became the third bowler to take 200 wickets in the IPL
Narine is the second spinner to reach the landmark
KKR bowled SunRisers out for 165 despite Travis Head's 61-run blitz

Sunil Narine became the first overseas bowler to take 200 wickets in the Indian Premier League on Sunday, 3 May, reaching the landmark during Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL 2026 match against SunRisers Hyderabad in Hyderabad. The 37-year-old finished with figures of 2 for 31 in four overs, and those wickets took him to 201 in 197 matches.

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Narine is now the third bowler overall to reach 200 IPL wickets, after Yuzvendra Chahal and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Incidentally, four of the top five wicket-takers in the tournament are spinners.

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Yuzvendra Chahal - 228 wickets in 182 matches
Bhuvneshwar Kumar - 215 wickets in 199 matches
Sunil Narine - 201 wickets in 197 matches
Piyush Chawla - 192 wickets in 192 matches
R Ashwin - 187 wickets in 221 matches

Narine delivered another important spell for KKR on a hot afternoon in Hyderabad. He opened the bowling against SunRisers' aggressive pair of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma and conceded nine runs in his first over and 11 in his second before being taken out of the attack in the powerplay.

He returned in the middle overs and helped tighten KKR's grip on the innings. In his final over, the 15th, Narine removed the in-form Salil Arora and then Ishan Kishan, who had begun to threaten a bigger score. Kishan had hit Narine for a six, but the West Indies spinner had him caught for 42 off 29 balls.

It was a strong bowling display from KKR, who bowled SunRisers out for 165 in 19 overs despite Travis Head making 61 off 28 deliveries. Varun Chakravarthy's wickets in the middle overs did the damage. He got the key wicket of Head in the ninth over and triggered a collapse as the home side slid from 105 for 1 to 165 all out, losing their last nine wickets for 60 runs. Varun bowled slower than usual in Hyderabad, gave the ball more air and was rewarded for that approach.

The performance also reflected KKR's recovery after a difficult start to the campaign. The three-time champions went to Hyderabad on the back of two straight wins after failing to win any of their first six games, and that improved confidence was visible in their body language and work in the field.

Narine's milestone came in the middle of that wider effort, with his two wickets placing him alone as the first overseas bowler to reach 200 IPL wickets as KKR combined to bowl SunRisers out for 165.

- Ends