Rinku Singh, a 25-year-old batter from Aligarh, gained instant fame, as he smashed five consecutive sixes in the final over of the game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
While Rinku defied the odds and produce a great spectacle for fans, there is a story hidden behind his heroics – the bat which was his ally throughout the innings is nothing short of special. The bat belongs to Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana and has been with him for a long time.
“This is my bat and I played both matches with this bat, I have played the entire Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy with this bat, I have played the last four to five matches with this bat and today I changed my bat, Rinku asked me for my bat I didn’t want to give him my bat initially, but somebody brought this bat and I had a feeling that he would pick this bat because this bat has a very nice pickup and according to my weight this bat is light. So this bat belongs to Rinku, not me,” said KKR skipper Nitish Rana in a video posted on KKR’s Twitter handle.
Gujarat Titans posted 204/4 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first. Vijay Shankar top-scored with 63 off 24 balls, consisting of four boundaries and five sixes. Sai Sudharshan also scored his second half-century in IPL 2023, scoring 53 in 38 balls consisting of three fours and two sixes. Shubman Gill also played a solid knock of 39 runs in 31 balls, with five fours.
Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/33 in four overs. Suyash Sharma also continued his solid run after a three-wicket hall against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous match, taking 1/35 in his four overs.
While chasing 205 runs, KKR was reduced to 28/2, but skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) put on a hundred-run stand for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 83 in 40 balls, which consisted of eight fours and five sixes.
Dismissal of these two set batters and Rashid’s hat-trick put KKR on the backfoot at 155/7. The equation came down to 29 runs in the final over. Rinku Singh came through with a cameo, hitting five successive sixes in the final over to seal what was once an improbable win for KKR. Rinku scored 48* in 21 balls, consisting of one four and six sixes.
Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for GT, taking 3/37. Alzarri Joseph took two, while Joshua Little and Mohammed Shami took a wicket each.
Rinku Singh was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his unbelievable match-winning cameo.
With this win, KKR has climbed to third position in the points table, winning two of their three matches and losing one. They have a total of four points. GT has slipped to fourth position and has a similar win-loss record to KKR, but KKR is one position up due to a superior net-run rate. (ANI)
