The 13th match of the TATA IPL season went down to the wire as Kolkata Knight Riders won the game by 3 wickets. The game was perhaps one of the best in the history of the Indian Premier League as Rinku Singh turned savior for the two time champions. While Rinku Singh was the star with the bat, his statement Yash Dayal was reduced to tears as he gave away 5 sixes in a row to lose the game for his side.
The story as it happened –
Kolkata won their last game by 81 runs as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore at Eden Gardens. Gujarat had begun the season with two wins in two games as the defending champs won the toss and bowled first. Hardik Pandya did not play the game and Rashid Khan was given the captaincy.
Rinku Singh’s two day old post and Yash Dayal’s comment goes viral –
After the win over Bangalore, Rinku Singh had taken to Instagram and posted a picture of himself batting. He captioned it and said “memorable victory. Special mention to all our wonderful fans for turning up in huge numbers and having our back”. Yash Dayal had commented on the post and said “Big player bhai”. Rinku had replied to it with a few heart emojis.
Uttar Pradesh ke Rinku Singh! 💪🔥 pic.twitter.com/UCgSSj5Xyb
— Kunal Yadav (@kunaalyaadav) April 9, 2023
Five sixes in Five balls to win the game for KKR –
Chasing 205 to win, KKR needed 29 runs of the last over with Yash Dayal being given the ball. Umesh Yadav took the single of the first ball to make it 28 off 5. Rinku was given the strike and he hit Dayal for 3 sixes in 3 balls to make it 10 runs needed of 2 balls.
The entire Gujarat think thank spoke to Dayal as Rinku hit him for another six. With 4 needed off 1, Yash Dayal ran in only to be hit over his head for another six as he was hit for 30 runs. Rinku Singh was flanked by his team mates as he stayed not out on 48 off 21 balls with a four and 6 sixes.
— Hardik Swagat (@HardikSwag10143) April 9, 2023
RINKU SINGH THE HERO...!!
— Sumit Mishra (@SumitLinkedIn) April 9, 2023
KKR needed 28 in the last 5 balls and he smashed 6,6,6,6,6 to win it for KKR. pic.twitter.com/yrne645Sxu
Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana lead the fight back –
Chasing 205 to win, Kolkata had lost wickets of Gurbaz for 15 and Jagadeesan for 6 to be placed at 28 for 2. That’s when Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana came together to add 100 for the 3rd wicket. Rana scored 45 off 29 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes, while Iyer scored 83 off 40 balls with 8 fours and 5 sixes.
Rashid Khan claims an hattrick –
Stand in skipper for Gujarat Titans, Rashid Khan created excitement when he claimed an hattrick to derail Kolkata. Andre Russell was the first to go when he was caught behind for 1, followed by the wickets of Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur. Narine was out first ball caught by Jayant Yadav while Thakur was out LBW.