Rinku Singh has done the impossible for Kolkata Knight Riders. 29 runs were needed in the last over, and Rinku Singh smashed 5 sixes in 5 balls to take KKR home. This game, this inning, will be remembered for ages. Carlos Brathwaite had done it with 4 sixes in 4 balls years ago, and tonight, Rinku Singh took it one step further.
Rashid Khan was captaining the side in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who was out due to illness. He won the toss and chose to bat first. Wriddhiman Saha left after making 17 runs, but the in-form Sai Sudharsan and Shubhman Gill formed a partnership. Abhinav Manohar also played a cameo which was cut short by a magnificent googly by Suyash Sharma. After that, it was Vijay Shankar’s sensational assault that helped Gujarat post 204 on the board. He helped Gujarat extract 45 runs off the last two overs. This was Gujarat’s first-ever 200 score in the IPL.
For the Kolkata Knight Riders, both the openers, Rahmanullah Gurbaaz and N Jagadeesan, couldn’t make an impact and got out early. After that, the Impact player Venkatesh Iyer and captain Nitish Rana took things into their hands and formed a crucial partnership for KKR. Venkatesh Iyer went into full slogging mode and scored 83 off 40 balls. After that, Rashid Khan brought Gujarat back into the game. He picked up the first hat trick of the Tata IPL 2023. He got rid of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur.
But Rinku Singh was still at the crease, and he had only one thing on his mind. To win this game for Kolkata. In the last over, 29 runs were required, and Umesh Yadav was at the crease. He took a single and gave the strike to Rinku Singh, who then smashed 5 sixes in a row and helped KKR chase down the mammoth total of 205 runs. This will go down in history as one of the best T20 endings ever. Rinku Singh started rushing to the dugout in joy but was halted in the tracks by Nitish Rana. On the other hand, Yash Dayal was dejected.
With this win, Kolkata Knight Riders move to the second position on the IPL 2023 Points Table.
