Indian batsman Rinku Singh blasted five sixes off the final five balls as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 205 to stun champions Gujarat Titans in an IPL thriller on Sunday.
The left-hander turned the chase on its head with an unbeaten 21-ball 48, after Kolkata slipped to 155-7 following Rashid Khan’s hat-trick in Ahmedabad.
Watch every match of the 2023 IPL LIVE & On-Demand with Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Kolkata needed 29 from the final over off Yash Dayal. Rinku took strike after Umesh Yadav’s single on the first ball and sent five hits over the fence to silence a raucous home crowd in the first match of the day.
The mesmerising knock lit up social media with former cricketers and the sport’s governing body praising the uncapped India player.
“One felt Rashid’s hat-trick was a game-changer but Rinku’s power-hitting was something special,” cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.
“Enjoyed the last few moments. This amazing game continues to teach us that it’s not over till it’s over.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) compared the knock to West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite’s four sixes in the 20th over from Ben Stokes to snatch the final from England in the 2016 T20 World Cup.
“Rinku Singh Carlos Brathwaite ‘Remember the name!’” the ICC tweeted. The Kolkata chase was set up by a 40-ball 83 by impact player Venkatesh Iyer, who put on a 100-run third-wicket stand with skipper Nitish Rana (45).
“Tonight was another example that we will never give up as a team,” Iyer said after the three-wicket win. “The wicket was quite good to bat and I was just trying to execute my plans.” Iyer, who came on in place of Suyash Sharma under the new impact player rule, fell to Alzarri Joseph and Rashid soon took over to claim his first IPL hat-trick.
– ‘More than many 100s’ –
Leg-spinner Rashid, who now has four hat-tricks in T20 cricket, went for a celebratory sprint after sending back Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur.
But little did Rashid know Rinku, whose first eight runs came off 14 balls, and Kolkata would have the last laugh.
“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” said Rashid, standing in as skipper for the unwell Hardik Pandya. “That is what T20 is all about, it is about entertainment.”
After two straight wins, two-time champions Kolkata took second spot in the 10-team table, behind leaders Rajasthan Royals.
It was a first defeat of the season for Gujarat, who won the league in their debut campaign last year.
Earlier Gujarat’s Vijay Shankar smashed five sixes in his 24-ball 63 as Gujarat took 45 runs from the final two overs to reach 204-4.
In the second match of the day, Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first win of the season with an eight-wicket hammering of Punjab Kings.
Rahul Tripathi made 74 in an unbeaten 100-run stand with skipper Aiden Markram (37) as hosts Hyderabad achieved their target of 144 with 17 balls to spare.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan finished 99 not out off 66 balls for Punjab but received little help from his team as he steered them from 88-9 to 143-9, earning himself the man of the match award.
Leg-spinner Mayank Markande took 4-15 to run through the Punjab batting line-up despite Dhawan’s valiant innings, which commentator Harsha Bhogle said was “worth more than many, many 100s”.
