Rinku Singh on Sunday pulled off a stunning heist to hand Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) an unthinkable win in Ahmedabad against defending champions Gujarat Titans. Down and almost out after Rashid Khan's record hat-trick, Kolkata bounced back on the back of an onslaught from Rinku as he smashed five consecutive sixes in the final over of the chase to script a three-wicket win. While Twitter was filled with congratulatory messages for Rinku, ardent fans spotted a mind-boggling similarity between the KKR star and Virat Kohli's knock against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup last year.
After Alzarri Joseph broke the crucial stand between Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana, dismissing both the batters, an on-song KKR were left in complete disarray as stand-in skipper Rashid struck an over later by dismissing Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur to script IPL 2023's first hat-trick.
However, Rinku guided KKR to a thriller of a victory when the equation stood 48 off 18, as he struck six maximums and a boundary in an unbeaten knock of 45 off 29. After Rinku hit Joshua Little for a six and a four in the penultimate over, Umesh Yadav took the most crucial single in the match of the first ball of the last over to bring the former on strike. The KKR star then made a mockery of Yash Dayal's deliveries, smacking him for five straight sixes.
Moments after the big win and the onslaught at the Narendra Modi Stadium, ardent fans recalled that former India skipper Kohli had revived the Men in Blue from a similar position in his quest to drive the team to a win against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup five months back in Melbourne.
{{/usCountry}}Moments after the big win and the onslaught at the Narendra Modi Stadium, ardent fans recalled that former India skipper Kohli had revived the Men in Blue from a similar position in his quest to drive the team to a win against Pakistan at the T20 World Cup five months back in Melbourne.
{{/usCountry}}With India, like KKR on Sunday, requiring 48 off 18, Kohli smacked three boundaries and three sixes, two of which are hailed as iconic strikes, against Haris Rauf in the penultimate over as India won by four wickets. Kohli had scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 in that match.
"Had the belief that I can do it. Last year I was in a similar situation in Lucknow. Had the belief back then too. Didn't think too much out there. Those shots just happened one after the other. That last one was back of the hand, and I struck it off the back foot," Rinku had said after collecting his Player of the Match award.