IPL 2023: Rinku Singh smashes 5 sixes off 5 balls as KKR beat GT in last over-thriller by 3 wickets

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), on Sunday, April 9, defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium after Rinku Singh pulled off a stupendous effort in the last over. The Titans needed 29 to defend in the last over, but Rinku hit Yash Dayal for five sixes in a row to take KKR home.

The Titans got off to a brisk start, scoring 54 runs in the powerplay, although they lost the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha. After Saha departed, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan put on 67 runs for the second wicket off 7.2 overs to lay the platform for the Titans. Sunil Narine separated the duo after getting rid of Gill, who scored 39 runs off 31 balls with five fours.

Sudharsan carried on with his impressive run of form after he scored 53 runs off 38 balls with three fours and two sixes. Suyash Sharma, who picked up three wickets on his IPL debut against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), got the wicket of Abhinav Manohar, who was threatening to play some big shots.

But the Titans got the much-needed momentum from Vijay Shankar, who looked at his very best with the bat in hand. The veteran raced off to a half-century off 21 balls. Shankar stayed unbeaten on 63 runs off 24 balls with four fours and five sixes.

It was because of Shankar’s knock that helped the



Titans go past the 200-run mark in their innings. After opting to bat first, GT scored 204 for the loss of four wickets. Narine was the pick of the KKR bowlers after he finished with figures of 4-0-33-3.

KKR got off to a rather sedate start as they scored 43 runs in the powerplay. Most importantly, they lost the crucial wickets of Rahmanullah Gurbaz and N Jagadeesan, who had replaced Mandeep Singh. But Venkatesh Iyer, who came in as an Impact Player for Suyash Sharma, kept KKR’s hopes alive with a half-century off 26 balls.

Iyer and Nitish Rana put on 100 runs for the third wicket to make sure that the Knights didn’t fall behind the 8-ball. The left-handed Rana also got back amongst the runs, scoring 45 runs before Alzarri Joseph accounted for his wicket.

Just when Iyer was looking to finish the match off for the Knights, he got out to Joseph while trying to go downtown. The southpaw scored 83 runs off 40 balls with five sixes and eight fours. Rashid Khan delivered the body blow after dismissing Andre Russell, who played his 100th IPL match.

But Rinku Singh had other ideas. With 29 runs needed off the last over, Rinku smashed Yash Dayal for five sixes in a row to take KKR home off the last ball. He stayed unbeaten on 48 runs off 21 balls with one four and six sixes.