Rinku Singh: The Indian Premier League has produced some of the most thrilling games that have ever been played in the history of cricket. But the 13th game of the 16th IPL edition had something extraordinary that no one expected. It was a high-scoring thriller between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the defending champion Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which ended with a nail-biting finish.
It was GT that won the toss and decided to bat first. They had a decent start, with both openers adding 33 runs for the first wicket. Shubman Gill (39 off 31) and Sai Sudharsan then added 67 runs for the second wicket to set the platform. Sudharsan scored his second successive IPL fifty. He scored 53 off 38 balls, with two sixes and three fours.
At one stage, it looked like GT would reach a maximum of 180 runs. But a brilliant cameo from Vijay Shankar took the score past the 200-run mark. He scored a 21-ball half-century and remained unbeaten on 63 off just 24 balls, including five sixes and four boundaries. GT made 45 runs in the last two overs and ended at a score of 204/4 in their first inning.
Watch: Rinku Singh Smashed five consecutive sixes off Yash Dayal against Gujarat Titans
KKR started poorly and lost both openers for 28 runs in four overs. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (15 off 12) and N Jagadeesan (6 off 8) got out early. However, after that, KKR had an excellent partnership for the third wicket between Venkatesh Iyer (Impact Player) and KKR stand-in skipper Nitish Rana. Both left-handers added 100 runs off 55 balls to bring their team back to the chase. Rana got out after scoring 45 off 29. He was dismissed by Alzarri Joseph.
Iyer scored a 26-ball half-century and was looking to take KKR home. But he got out at 83 off 40 on the fifth ball of the 16th over. KKR was at 155/4 at the start of the 17th over. But Rashid Khan picked up a brilliant hat-trick and dismissed Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur on the first three balls of the over to put GT on top. But who would have thought that, needing 28 runs off the last five balls, Rinku Singh would smash five consecutive sixes to win it for KKR?
KKR required 29 runs off the last over. Umesh Yadav took a single on the first delivery, and Rinku came to the crease. After that, he just smashed GT pacer Yash Dayal to all parts of the ground for five successive sixes, and KKR won the game. Rinku remained unbeaten on 48 off 21, with one four and six sixes.
GT vs KKR: Records Tumble after Rinku Singh Smashed five consecutive sixes
- With five consecutive sixes, Rinku Singh became the first player from the Kolkata Knight Riders to do so.
- This was the first time in the history of the IPL that a match ended with five consecutive sixes.
- This was also the first time ever that five sixes were hit in the last over of an IPL match.
- Prior to five sixes, Rinku hit one six and one four on the last two balls of the 19th over. With this, he scored 40 runs off his last seven balls. He scored most runs on seven consecutive balls in an IPL inning.
- Yash Dayal ended with a bowling figure of 0/69 and bowled the second-most expensive spells in IPL history.