First you thought, Vijay Shankar has played one of the innings of the Indian Premier League season, as he finished Gujarat Titans innings including a hat-trick of sixes in the final over. Then you thought, Rashid Khan has bowled one of the overs of the IPL season, with a hat-trick in his final over, the 17th of the run-chase that pegged Kolkata Knight Riders back. And then came Rinku Singh with 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 in the last five balls of the match to produce one of the most iconic moments in the history of IPL.
Rinku blasted five sixes on the final five balls as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 205 to stun champions Gujarat Titans in an IPL thriller on Sunday.
The left-hander turned the chase on its head with an unbeaten 21-ball 48, after Kolkata slipped to 155-7 following Rashid Khan’s hat-trick at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kolkata needed 29 from the final over off Yash Dayal. Rinku took strike after Umesh Yadav’s single on the first ball to send five hits over the fence and silence a raucous home crowd.
Here are some reactions to the crazy win for KKR against GT as Rinku Singh produced a knock for the matches:
6 to win the match - Dhoni
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 9, 2023
6, 6 to win the match - Tewatia
6, 6, 6 , 6, 6 to win the match - ONLY RINKU SINGH!
"Because he's the Knight #KKR deserves and the one they need right now" - Rinku Singh 😎#GTvKKR #TATAIPL #IPLonJioCinema | @KKRiders pic.twitter.com/b1QrN3fLjX
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) April 9, 2023
𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗨 𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗛! 🔥 🔥
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2023
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸! ⚡️ ⚡️
Take A Bow! 🙌 🙌
28 needed off 5 balls & he has taken @KKRiders home & how! 💪 💪
Those reactions say it ALL! ☺️ 🤗
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/G8bESXjTyh #TATAIPL | #GTvKKR | @rinkusingh235 pic.twitter.com/Kdq660FdER
I’ve never seen anything like it!!! #kingRinku #KKR
— Aaron Finch (@AaronFinch5) April 9, 2023
Unbelievable performance by @rinkusingh235! 5 sixes in the final over to seal the victory. 🔥🏏 What an absolute beast! Congratulations 🎉 #IPL2023 #GTvsKKR
— Suresh Raina🇮🇳 (@ImRaina) April 9, 2023
Rinkuuuuuuuuuu 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/6u3bBm6d37
— Shreyas Iyer (@ShreyasIyer15) April 9, 2023
GT WinViz during the #GTvsKKR match:
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 9, 2023
before Alzarri’s final over: 60%
after Alzarri’s wicket of Iyer: 79%
after Rashid’s hat-trick: 99%
With 6 balls remaining, they needed 29 runs. The most runs scored in the final over of a successful chase was 26. Rinku Singh defied all odds.
Rinku. Rinku. Rinku Singh!!!#IPL2023
— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa) April 9, 2023
RINKU !!!!!!!!! RINKU !!!!!!! RINKU !!!!!!! RINKU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeh kya tha !?!?!?! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯 #IPLonStar #GTvsKKR @KKRiders #rinkusingh @StarSportsIndia 🏏
— Ranveer Singh (@RanveerOfficial) April 9, 2023
SUPER STAR RINKU SINGH ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ @KKRiders 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 9, 2023
Unbelievable hitting from Rinku Singh. 6 6 6 6 6 4 6 from his last seven balls. #IPL has witnessed one of the most dramatic finishes ever. @KKRiders
— Yusuf Pathan (@iamyusufpathan) April 9, 2023
Just let that sink it, Rinku Singh smashed five sixes in a row to send people into absolute ecstasy! The IPL witnessed one of the most remarkable endings in its extensive history.#GTvKKR
— Prajakta (@18prajakta) April 9, 2023
Rinku, you beauty, Singh., REMEMBER THE NAME! every time you think you’ve seen it all.. the IPL produces a totally crazy magical moment. #KKRvGT
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) April 9, 2023
And that's sport. You win some, you lose some. #GTvKKR #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/yKMhtkw3Re
— Lavanya 🎙️🎥👩🏻💻 (@lav_narayanan) April 9, 2023
That is hilarious stuff #TATAIPL 🔥🏏
— Nooshin AL Khadeer (@NooshinKhadeer) April 9, 2023
Hat-trick followed by Five sixes in a row !
Truely electrifying cricket all over .@rashidkhan_19 @rinkusingh235 #KKRvsGT
One of the craziest finishes of all time in the IPL. IPL is lucky it came from the bat of King Rinku Singh. pic.twitter.com/DEMtvxjUME
— Manya (@CSKian716) April 9, 2023
Rinku Singh ✅✅💕
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) April 9, 2023
6, 4, 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 in the last 7 balls by Rinku Singh
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 9, 2023
When KKR needed 39 runs from 8 balls. pic.twitter.com/K1Ml26F5dK
Rinku Singh and his lack of emotions while pulling off the heist was more than made up in the hug KKR head coach Chandrakant Pandit gave him. Beauts! What a game. #IPL2023 #GTvKKR
— S. Sudarshanan (@Sudarshanan7) April 9, 2023
One of the best innings in the history of the IPL and look at the sea of emotions in the #KKR camp. Five sixes in a row from none other than ice-cold Rinku Singh. #GTvsKKR #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/UUH4vLM2Mf
— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) April 9, 2023
The most dramatic finish in the history of IPL. 29 chased down of the last over. Great skills shown by Rinku Singh. #KKRvsGT
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) April 9, 2023
All hail Lord Rinku Singh. 5 sixes in 5 balls in the last over of a run chase. One of the best last over hitting in a chase that you would ever see. #KKRvGT
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) April 9, 2023
RINKU 👏 👏 👏
— Ben Stokes (@benstokes38) April 9, 2023
A Historic Day for cricket! Great to have shared this moment with you, @gujarat_titans! 🙌
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 9, 2023
All that emotion on Chandrakant Pandit’s face as he hugged Rinku Singh repeatedly perfectly complemented Rinku Singh’s lack of emotion while he was pulling off one of the IPL’s greatest ever heists. Incredible finish #IPL2023
— Bharat Sundaresan (@beastieboy07) April 9, 2023
#IPL2023
— Samreen (@SamreenRazz) April 9, 2023
Ice running through those veins! Zero emotions. What a finish, what a player, Rinku Singh. Aligarh represennnnnnt 🫡
KINGKUUUUUU😂😂❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
— Sarah Waris (@swaris16) April 9, 2023
The chase was set up by a 40-ball 83 by impact player Venkatesh Iyer, who put on a 100-run third-wicket stand with skipper Nitish Rana, who made 45.
“Tonight was another example that we will never give up as a team,” Iyer said after the three-wicket win. “The wicket was quite good to bat and I was just trying to execute my plans.”
Iyer, who came on in place of Suyash Sharma under the new impact player rule, fell to Alzarri Joseph and Rashid soon took over to claim his first Indian Premier League hat-trick.
Rashid, a champion leg-spinner who now has four hat-tricks in T20 cricket, went for a celebratory sprint after sending back Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur.
But little did Rashid know Rinku and Kolkata would have the last laugh.
“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” said Rashid, standing in as skipper for the unwell Hardik Pandya. “That is what T20 is all about, it is about entertainment.”
After two straight wins, two-time champions Kolkata took second spot in the 10-team table, behind leaders Rajasthan Royals.
It was a first defeat of the season for Gujarat, who won the league in their debut campaign last year.
Earlier Gujarat’s Vijay Shankar smashed five sixes in his 24-ball 63 as Gujarat took 45 runs from the final two overs to reach 204-4.
Shankar stood out for Gujarat with his blitz and key partnerships including an unbeaten 51-run fifth-wicket stand with David Miller, who made two.
TEAM | P | W | L | NRR | FOR | AGST. | PTS |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
RR | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2.067 | 594/60.0 | 470/60.0 | 4 |
KKR | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.375 | 557/56.0 | 480/56.0 | 4 |
LSG | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1.358 | 525/56.0 | 481/60.0 | 4 |
GT | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.431 | 549/57.3 | 547/60.0 | 4 |
CSK | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0.356 | 554/58.1 | 544/59.2 | 4 |
PBKS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0.333 | 350/36.0 | 338/36.0 | 4 |
RCB | 2 | 1 | 1 | -1.256 | 295/36.2 | 375/40.0 | 2 |
MI | 2 | 0 | 2 | -1.394 | 328/40.0 | 331/34.3 | 0 |
DC | 3 | 0 | 3 | -2.092 | 447/60.0 | 555/58.1 | 0 |
SRH | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2.867 | 252/40.0 | 330/36.0 | 0 |