Kolkata Knight Riders’ Rinku Singh hit Yash Dayal for five sixes off the last five balls to give his team a three-wicket win against Gujarat Titans overnight in one of the most extraordinary finishes in the history of the Indian Premier League.
Singh’s 48 not out off 21 deliveries liftedKolkata to 207-7 with left-arm quick Dayal finishing with 0-69 in four overs. Vijay Shankar had powered Gujarat to a strong 204-4 with 63 not out off only 24 balls after stand-in captain Rashid Khan won the toss and chose to bat first in front of home fans.
Rashid, who led the side in the absence of unwell regular skipper Hardik Pandya, had nearly sealed the game with a hat trick in his last over that left Kolkata needing 29 off the final over.
Umesh Yadav gave the strike back to Singh with a single off the first ball and Singh then clubbed five big hits against Dayal’s wayward lengths that included two sixes off low full tosses.
“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” Rashid said. “Rinku played some unbelievable shots. He (Dayal) tried his best deliveries but it did not work, credit goes to the batter the way he finished.”
Kolkata’s Venkatesh Iyer (83) and skipper Nitish Rana (45) combined in a century stand before Alzarri Joseph (2-27) dismissed both batters.
Rashid then recorded the first hat trick in this season’s IPL by removing Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur before Singh snatched the game with his brilliant hitting.
Earlier, Gujarat’s Sai Sudharsan (53) continued to impress at No. 3 after Kane Williamson was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury in the first game.
Sudharsan scored his second successive half century and built a solid platform for a big total by adding 67 runs with Shubman Gill (39). Narine was the pick of Kolkata’s bowlers with 3-33 before Shankar’s late blitz.
Kolkata is second with two wins from three games while Gujarat also has four points but is fourth on net run-rate.
