The history of cricket has given us some memories that are enclaved in our hearts for a lifetime, just like Rinku Singh yesterday, be it Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes off six deliveries to Stuart Broad, Carlos Braithwaite’s four sixes off four balls in the T20 World Cup 2016 or something we just witnessed the last evening by Rinku Singh’s bat. The match didn’t seem to be another IPL match, but just a sequence of imaginative events.
A Hat trick by the spin maestro Rashid Khan who happened to be the Captain that day and then five back-to-back sixes in a stadium that’s the world’s largest Cricket Stadium. It wouldn’t be appropriate to call this one of the “greatest finishes in the IPL History”.
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Vijay Shankar smashes a well-deserved half-ton and takes GT to 204, Gill and Sai Sudarshan perform once again
The Titans were startled when usual captain Hardik Pandya was ruled out owing to illness even before the first ball was bowled. Rashid Khan, his deputy, got things going by winning the toss, and GT got things going quickly as well. After Wriddhiman Saha’s departure, Shubman Gill continued the momentum he had started with three well-placed shots.
Although the latter failed to capitalise on his start, their partnership with Sai Sudharsan got the innings going. The left-hander produced a respectable 53 off 38 to lead the innings, and he appeared confident as he did it. With both of these men giving a good start to the innings, GT seemed to be approaching the 180 mark easily. But Vijay Shankar had some other plans for the evening.
The knock put up by him could be termed the best knock in his personal history of IPL. He singlehandedly put 45 runs on the board in the last two overs by hitting 5 sixes and 4 fours and taking his score to 63 runs off just 24 deliveries.
Gujarat Titans looked pretty comfortable with a target of 205 runs in their closet and were all lined up to take KKR by horns.
Impact Player Venky KKR into the chase Game, Rinku Singh pulls off a miraculous innings
The pressure of the large chase was evident in Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Narayan Jagadeesan’s dismissals as they fell early (both players were making their KKR debuts). While the former was eliminated by a quick short ball, his teammate was eliminated more gently as GT maintained their position in the powerplay.
The veteran members of the team were crucial for KKR, and they more than delivered, especially Venkatesh Iyer, who made 83 off 40 after a string of subpar runs. The game was opened up by the left-handed pair of Iyer and Rana (45 off 29), whose calculated ball-striking was the standout of their stand. They accumulated 100 runs in just 55 deliveries. Even though the KKR captain misfired on a very sloppy shot (caught in the ring off Alzarri, they got all guns blazing.
The Afghanistan leggie typically enjoys bowling when the game is on the line and the most dangerous hitter from the opposition is in. He had refrained from entering this contest. In addition to giving Russell the first ball, he then dismissed Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur to record the first hat-trick of the year. At the moment, it appeared to be a game-ending strike.
39 off 8 balls was an equation, where even the commentators had declared the match done and dusted. Probably the KKR fans had also resumed their daily chores after being monotonous about another close yet well-fought defeat.
It was clear that Rinku was a fighter because he had successfully pulled his team out of seemingly hopeless situations in the past, most notably against LSG last year. He never quit trying. Of course, he also required some luck, but even with that, he still had to put in some effort.
The ball striker was fearless because he maintained his shape and knew just where to place the ball. It only happens once every million blue moons that 29 off 5 occurs.
In the end, his 31-ball 48* ended Titan’s season-long winning streak and gave the Knight Riders a victory that boosted their spirits.
With the Innings that Rinku Singh played, he not only owned himself a ‘Man of the Match’ Title but also wrote down the history of a stupendous inning that would be relished by the Cricket fandom for the coming centuries.
