IPL 2023: Rinku Singh scripts epic win for KKR against GT
In the 13th match of IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders registered a thrilling win by defeating Gujarat Titans by three wickets. Batting first after winning the toss, Gujarat set a target of 205 runs in front of Kolkata. Kolkata achieved the target by losing seven wickets on the final ball of the match. This is Gujarat’s first defeat in this tournament.
Rinku Singh’s heroics trump Rashid Khan’s hat-trick
Kolkata Knight Riders won the match by defeating Gujarat Titans by three wickets. In the last over, this team needed 29 runs to win and Rinku Singh gave victory to his team by hitting five consecutive sixes. He played a brilliant inning of 48 runs in 21 balls. His knock overshadowed a hat-trick by Gujarat Titans’ Rashid Khan.
Batting first after winning the toss, Gujarat scored 204 runs losing four wickets in 20 overs. For Gujarat, Vijay Shankar scored an unbeaten 63, Sai Sudarshan scored 53 and Shubman Gill scored 39 runs. At the same time, Sunil Narine took three wickets and Suyash Sharma took one wicket for Kolkata. In response, Kolkata made a poor start and lost two wickets for 28 runs. After this, Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana got their team back in the match by sharing a century partnership. Venkatesh Iyer got out after scoring 83 runs. Nitish Rana scored 45 runs. At the same time, Rinku Singh gave victory to his team by hitting five sixes in the last over. Rashid Khan took a hat-trick for Gujarat in the 17th over, but his hat-trick went in vain. Alzarri Joseph took two wickets, Joshua Little and Mohammed Shami took one wicket each.
Excitement of the match
This match changed its course many times. Batting first, Gujarat got off to a slow start. Till 18 overs, the score of this team was 159 runs for four wickets. After this, due to Vijay Shankar’s stormy innings, Gujarat scored 45 runs in two overs and set a target of 205 runs in front of Kolkata. Shankar remained unbeaten on 63 off 24 balls. In response, Kolkata lost two wickets for 28 runs and it seemed that this team would easily lose the match. After this, Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana got their team back in the match by sharing a century partnership.
Kolkata had scored 149 runs for three wickets in 15 overs. Venkatesh was playing on 79 and Kolkata needed 56 runs in 30 balls to win. In such a situation, it seemed that this team would easily chase the target. However, after this the match turned. Alzarri Joseph dismissed Venkatesh for 83 and Rashid Khan took a hat-trick in the next over. He overturned the match by dismissing Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur. Now Gujarat’s victory seemed certain. After 19 overs, Kolkata’s score was 176 for seven wickets. Rinku Singh was playing on 18 and Umesh Yadav scored four runs in five balls. In such a situation, Gujarat’s victory seemed certain, but Umesh Yadav took one run in the first ball of Yash Dayal’s last over and Rinku Singh hit five sixes in the remaining five balls. With this, the Kolkata team won the match by three wickets.
