Rinku Singh became an immortal on April 9 night at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium as he pulled off one of the most outrageous wins in the history of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. In a high-voltage match that featured Vijay Shankar’s 21-ball fifty, Venkatesh Iyer’s 83-run knock and Rashid Khan’s maiden IPL hat-trick, Rinky stole everyone’s thunder with thunderous five consecutive sixes off Yash Dayal to seal KKR win by three wickets.
Quiet powerplay overs
In the run chase, KKR lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz early. The Afghan wicketkeeper-batter lost his wicket to Mohammed Shami. Dayal and Srikar Bharat were involved in a collision but the former completed the catch. At no.3, impact player Iyer got off the mark with a six off Shami. N Jagadeesan could not shine on GT debut and lost his wicket to Irish pacer Joshua Little. After powerplay overs, KKR had 43/2 on the board.
Much-needed partnership
The acceleration came in the seventh over when Iyer hit Dayal for a four and a six. Rana joined him in the next over with two sixes off Alzarri Joseph. At halfway stage, they were 86/2. Iyer and Rana did not spare Rashid as well. In the 12th over, Dayal faced the music again and leaked 17 runs. Jospeh took the much-needed wicket of Rana in the 14th over. The skipper scored 45 runs from 29 balls including four fours and three sixes. After the 100-run partnership, Iyer smashed Little for two fours and one six. Joseph in his next over got the big wicket of Iyer. The southpaw scored 83 runs from 40 balls including eight fours and five sixes.
Rashid's maiden IPL hat-trick
After Iyer's wicket, KKR suffered a batting collapse. Skipper Rashid in his last over made up for the expensive spell. Andre Russell was the first to ball as a faint edge carried to Bharat. Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur failed to pick the googly and got out as Rashid picked up his maiden IPL hat-trick. Rashid picked up the first bowler to take a hat-trick this season. After Rashid's hat-trick, all hope was lost but Rinku gave them a glimmer of hope with a six and four in the penultimate over.
Absolute carnage
In the final over, KKR needed 29 runs to win. Umesh Yadav took a single off the first ball. Rinky made space for himself and hit Dayal for a six over extra cover. Dayal followed it up with a full toss that was deposited over backward square leg boundary for a six. Dayal erred again and the full toss was hit over the long-off boundary. Dayal bowled a short of the length ball that was picked by Rinku and flat-batted over long-on. KKR needed four off the final ball and Rinku smashed it over long-on to seal a famous win for KKR. He scored 48 runs from 21 balls as Dayal was left distraught.
Gill, Sudharsan start well
Earlier, Rashid won the toss and opted to bat first. Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha got GT off to a steady start. Sunil Narine broke the opening partnership in the fifth over with N Jagadeesan's wicket. Saha contributed with a run-a-ball 17. Varun Chakaravarthy was expensive in his first over as GT posted 54/1 in powerplay overs. Gill reached a milestone as he became second-youngest to 2,000 IPL runs.
Sai Sudharsan accelerated as well after playing himself in. At halfway stage, Titans were 88/1. In the 12th over, Narine broke the partnership with Gill's wicket. The opener scored 39 runs from 31 balls including five fours. Abhinav Manohar hit three consecutive fours off Umesh Yadav. He was dropped by Gurbaz in the same over as well. But Suyash Sharma got the better of Manohar who contributed with 8-ball 14.
The Shankar show
In the 17th over, Sudharsan got to his second consecutive half-century from 34 balls. Narine in his last over got the wicket of set batter Sudharsan who scored 53 runs from 38 balls including three fours and two sixes. In the penultimate over, Lockie Ferguson erred and Shankar launched a brutal onslaught by hitting him for two fours and as many sixes in the 25-run over. In the final over, he smacked three consecutive sixes. He reached his half-century from just 21 balls. His unbeaten 24-ball 63 helped Titans post their highest total of 204/4.
ALSO READ:
IPL 2023: Chennai Super Kings enter top 4 after convincing victory, Mumbai Indians sink further
