Rinku Singh has been hailed as "Lord Rinku" after hitting five sixes off the final five balls to earn a win for Kolkata against Gujarat in Ahmedabad
Match Report:
ScorecardRinku hits sixes off last five balls for unreal IPL win
Rinku Singh has become the toast of the Indian Premier League after he smashed five sixes off the final five deliveries to pull off one of the most miraculous wins the white-ball game has ever witnessed.
All India was left in thrall to Singh, who was hailed "Lord Rinku" by his Kolkata Knight Riders teammates after one of the great individual feats in the league's annals.
Chasing an unlikely target of 205 to beat the champion Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday, Rinku was left with the seemingly impossible task of scoring 28 off the final five balls of the match. Incredibly, he did just that, with five towering blows.
The Titans were in complete control after Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan again demonstrated his brilliance by claiming a hat-trick to leave Kolkata reeling at 7-155.
But with Kolkata needing 29 runs off the last over, the unfortunate Yash Dayal was handed the ball and, after giving up a single to Umesh Yadav, completely lost his nerve when he faced Rinku.
Umesh just told Rinku: "Hit it -don't think!"
It proved sage advice. Three times, the 25-year-old Rinku helped himself when Dayal served up full tosses, before he then fetched the last two balls from outside off-stump over the long-on boundary to give Kolkata a three-wicket win.
"I was just trying to hit sixes. I was not thinking a lot, was just reacting to the ball," said an incredulous Rinku, who finished with an unbeaten 48 from 21 balls after breaking the record for most runs by any batter in the final over of an IPL run-chase.
"It kept coming out of the middle. I had belief and it came off in the end."
His teammates were much more effusive about his heroics, though. Venkatesh Iyer, who himself slammed a 40-ball 83, smiled: "Somewhere, we lost our way - but Lord Rinku saved the day!
"This teaches us that we should never give up until the last ball."
KKR's captain Nitish Rana smiled: "Out of a hundred matches, you will win one like this."
Actually, it felt more like one in a million.
IPL 2023 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | N/R | NRR | Ded. | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
GUT
|
14 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.809 | 0 | 20 |
|
2
CSK
|
14 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.652 | 0 | 17 |
|
3
LSG
|
14 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0.284 | 0 | 17 |
|
4
MI
|
14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | -0.044 | 0 | 16 |
|
5
RAJ
|
14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.148 | 0 | 14 |
|
6
RCB
|
14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0.135 | 0 | 14 |
|
7
KKR
|
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -0.239 | 0 | 12 |
|
8
KXI
|
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | -0.304 | 0 | 12 |
|
9
DEL
|
14 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | -0.808 | 0 | 10 |
|
10
SUN
|
14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | -0.59 | 0 | 8 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
PTS: Total points
Aussies in IPL 2023
Delhi Capitals: Mitch Marsh ($1.2m), David Warner ($1.16m)
Gujarat Titans: Matthew Wade ($446,000)
Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis ($1.7m), Daniel Sams ($135,000)
Mumbai Indians: Tim David ($1.53m), Cameron Green ($3.15m), Jason Behrendorff ($135,000)
Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis ($135,000), Matt Short ($36,000)
Rajasthan Royals: Adam Zampa ($270,000)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Josh Hazlewood ($1.4m), Glenn Maxwell ($2m)
Figures represent auction price in Australian dollars at time of sale