Rashid Khan recorded the first hat-trick of the IPL 2023 season, but little did he realize that Rinku Singh’s stunning five consecutive sixes would be the play that altered the game and gave Kolkata Knight Riders a dramatic three-wicket win.
Up until their skipper abruptly changed the course of the game by dismissing players like Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur to ruffle the Kolkata Knight Riders batting order, Gujarat Titans were in second place.
Venkatesh Iyer’s fifty and KKR captain Nitish Rana’s 45-run innings kept his team in the game, however after Iyer was gone, Alzarri Joseph suddenly stopped his superb 83-run innings.
The two-time IPL champions were still far from the necessary 205 runs, but there was still hope for KKR supporters as their talismanic all-rounder Russell entered the field. Unfortunately, Russell became Rashid’s first victim, and then Narine was the next player to leave before the Gujarat Titans stand-in captain added Shardul to his hat trick.
Although Narine and Russell did seem to be having trouble, Thakur was in fantastic form and had recently hit a quickfire fifty for KKR in their most recent game. Nevertheless, Thakur was unable to read Khan’s swinging delivery and was adjudged LBW.
The atmosphere in both camps abruptly altered as the Gujarat Titans seemed to be on their way to another convincing win, but Rinku Singh had other plans.
With KKR needing 29 runs from 6 balls in order to win, Rinku Singh and Umesh Yadav were in the middle.
After a single to start Yash Dayal’s over, Yadav gave Rinku the opportunity to bat first. Rinku needed to get 28 runs from five balls.
He turned Kolkata Knight Riders’ gloom into joy with 30 runs and five straight sixes. Due to his bravery, the 25-year-old was named Player of the Match.
Even the Afghanistan spin-wizard gave Rinku high credit for his magnificent display of tenacity, will, and sheer perseverance.
“Rinku played fantastic shots, and he deserves praise for both his play and his performance. T20 is all about keeping it easy and consistently hitting the correct spot, according to Rashid in his post-game interview.