Indian batsman Rinku Singh blasted 5 sixes off the ultimate 5 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 in Ahmedabad.
Kolkata wanted 29 from the ultimate over off Yash Dayal. Tailender Umesh Yadav despatched the primary ball to lengthy on for a single, leaving Rinku to get 28 from the ultimate 5.
He hit all 5 over the fence — two to long-off, two to long-on and one to deep backward sq. leg — to silence a raucous dwelling crowd.
The knock lit up social media with former cricketers and the game’s governing physique praising the uncapped India participant.
“One felt Rashid’s hat-trick was a game-changer but Rinku’s power-hitting was something special,” cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar wrote on Twitter.
“Enjoyed the last few moments. This amazing game continues to teach us that it’s not over till it’s over.”
The International Cricket Council (ICC) in contrast the knock to West Indies batsman Carlos Brathwaite’s 4 sixes within the twentieth over from Ben Stokes to grab the ultimate from England within the 2016 T20 World Cup.
“Rinku Singh Carlos Brathwaite ‘Remember the name!’” the ICC tweeted.
The Kolkata chase was arrange by a 40-ball 83 by affect participant Venkatesh Iyer, who placed on a 100-run third-wicket stand with skipper Nitish Rana (45).
“Tonight was another example that we will never give up as a team,” Iyer stated after the three-wicket win. “The wicket was quite good to bat and I was just trying to execute my plans.”
Iyer, who got here on instead of Suyash Sharma beneath the brand new affect participant rule, fell to Alzarri Joseph and Rashid quickly took over to assert his first IPL hat-trick.
Leg-spinner Rashid, who now has 4 hat-tricks in T20 cricket, went for a celebratory dash after sending again Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur.
But little did Rashid know Rinku, whose first eight runs got here off 14 balls, and Kolkata would have the final chuckle.
“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” stated 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 within the 10-team desk, behind leaders Rajasthan Royals.
It was a primary defeat of the season for Gujarat, who gained the league of their debut marketing campaign final yr.
Earlier Gujarat’s Vijay Shankar smashed 5 sixes in his 24-ball 63 as Gujarat took 45 runs from the ultimate two overs to succeed in 204-4.
In the second match of the day, Sunrisers Hyderabad registered their first win of the season with an eight-wicket hammering of Punjab Kings.
Rahul Tripathi made 74 in an unbeaten 100-run stand with skipper Aiden Markram (37) as hosts Hyderabad achieved their goal of 144 with 17 balls to spare.
Skipper Shikhar Dhawan completed 99 not out off 66 balls for Punjab however acquired little assist from his staff as he steered them from 88-9 to 143-9, incomes himself the person of the match award.
Leg-spinner Mayank Markande took 4-15 to run via the Punjab batting line-up regardless of Dhawan’s valiant innings, which commentator Harsha Bhogle stated was “worth more than many, many 100s”.
— with AFP
Originally printed as ‘Beyond belief’: Cricket world surprised by best end ever
Source: www.dailytelegraph.com.au
