Gujarat Titans (GT) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) competed in one of the most thrilling games of all-time in IPL history on Sunday (April 9) at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The game saw several twists before the ultimate twist courtesy KKR batter Rinku Singh.
GT went into the game without regular captain Hardik Pandya, as he was feeling unwell, which meant his deputy Rashid Khan was in charge. He started on a good note by winning the toss as he chose to bat first in the afternoon fixture.
Shubman Gill (39) and Wriddhiman Saha (17) made decent contributions before Sai Sudharsan (53) and Vijay Shankar (63*) scored quickfire half-centuries, particularly the latter who took just 24 balls and smashed four fours and five sixes to help GT post 204/4 on the board. Sunil Narine was the most successful bowler for KKR with 3/33.
KKR lost their openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz and N Jagadeesan cheaply, but Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana (45) took charge and added 100 runs for the third wicket off 55 balls. Iyer carried on from there but was dismissed for 83, as KKR collapsed from 154/3 to 155/7 in space of five deliveries, with Rashid Khan picking up the first hat-trick of the season, and his first overall in the league as well.
It seemed like the game was done for KKR, but Rinku Singh, the last remaining specialist batter had other ideas when he was joined by Umesh Yadav at the crease. With 39 runs needed off 8 balls, an equation that seemed well out of grasp, Rinku launched an attack that left everyone stunned as he smashed a six and four off the final two balls of the 19th over bowled by Josh Little.
29 runs were needed in the final over of Yash Dayal, and Umesh managed to get Rinku back on strike with a single off the first ball. After that Rinku scripted history as he smashed five consecutive sixes to win the game for KKR on the last ball. Never before as many runs had been scored in the last over to win a game of T20 cricket.
The left-hander was hailed by the cricketing world, and KKR co-owner and Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan wasn't far behind as he took to Twitter and wrote, “JHOOME JO RINKUUUUU !!! My baby @rinkusingh235 And @NitishRana_27 & @venkateshiyer you beauties!!! And remember Believe that’s all. Congratulations @KKRiders and @VenkyMysore take care of your heart sir!”
