IPL 2023: Rinku Singh hits five sixes in last over to win it for KKR despite Rashid Khan’s hattrick

In what could be termed the greatest turn-around in IPL history, Kolkata Knight Rider’s Rinku Singh slammed five sixes in the final over to win it for KKR against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad. It came after GT’s Rashid Khan picked up the first hattrick of IPL 2023 by removing three match-winners in Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and last match’s hero Shardul Thakur off successive balls. Rinku’s 48 off 21 balls helps KKR beat GT by three wickets.

As far as the history of this tournament goes, none can remember an inning like that. Needing 28 off the last over, KKR looked like falling short of the target. But as they say in cricket, never say never – Rinku Singh backed himself and pulled off a miracle to win the game for his team.

Earlier, Gujarat got off to a flying start, after electing to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill smashed a few fours before veteran spinner Sunil Narine provided KKR with a crucial breakthrough by removing Saha on 17. An impressive 67-run stand between Gill and Sai Sudharsan had KKR’s nose in front, as the run rate was near ten by the end of the 11th over. 

Narine then removed Gill before the previous game hero, young Suyesh Sharma, picked his first wicket of the match in Abhinav Mahohar on 14. Continuing his brilliant run of form from the last game, the left-handed Sai completed yet another fifty but got out to Narine soon after.

The highlight of the first inning came during the fag end when all-rounder Vijay Shankar upped the ante by smashing boundaries on almost every ball. In no time, he reached his fifty off 21 deliveries, and with his final score of 63 from 24 balls, he helped his team cross the 200 run-mark (204/4) in 20 overs.

The chase, however, didn’t begin in the best of manners for KKR as they lost both openers in quick succession inside the Powerplay. Venkatesh Iyer then took the onus on himself and started hammering the in-form Gujarat bowlers to all parts of the grounds. He got well-accompanied by his captain Nitish Rana, who also hit some runs.

Following their wickets in the middle overs, GT’s stand-in captain Rashid Khan registered his first hattrick of IPL 2023 by accounting for Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur. It really had KKR’s back against the wall, as they almost required 40 plus runs in the final two overs. 

Then came the moment that will forever be remembered. Facing the left-arm seamer Yash Dayal, Rinku Singh smoked five successive sixes off the last five balls in the 20th over to win the match for KKR. With this, he also became the fifth batter overall in IPL history to hit five sixes in an over.