IPL 2023: Rinku Singh pulls off stunning heist with five sixes – ‘One of the most dramatic finishes’

First you thought, Vijay Shankar has played one of the innings of the Indian Premier League season, as he finished Gujarat Titans innings including a hat-trick of sixes in the final over. Then you thought, Rashid Khan has bowled one of the overs of the IPL season, with a hat-trick in his final over, the 17th of the run-chase that pegged Kolkata Knight Riders back. And then came Rinku Singh with 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 in the last five balls of the match to produce one of the most iconic moments in the history of IPL.

Rinku blasted five sixes on the final five balls as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 205 to stun champions Gujarat Titans in an IPL thriller on Sunday.

The left-hander turned the chase on its head with an unbeaten 21-ball 48, after Kolkata slipped to 155-7 following Rashid Khan’s hat-trick at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.

Kolkata needed 29 from the final over off Yash Dayal. Rinku took strike after Umesh Yadav’s single on the first ball to send five hits over the fence and silence a raucous home crowd.

Here are some reactions to the crazy win for KKR against GT as Rinku Singh produced a knock for the matches:

The chase was set up by a 40-ball 83 by impact player Venkatesh Iyer, who put on a 100-run third-wicket stand with skipper Nitish Rana, who made 45.

“Tonight was another example that we will never give up as a team,” Iyer said after the three-wicket win. “The wicket was quite good to bat and I was just trying to execute my plans.”

Iyer, who came on in place of Suyash Sharma under the new impact player rule, fell to Alzarri Joseph and Rashid soon took over to claim his first Indian Premier League hat-trick.

Rashid, a champion leg-spinner who now has four hat-tricks in T20 cricket, went for a celebratory sprint after sending back Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur.

But little did Rashid know Rinku and Kolkata would have the last laugh.

“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” said Rashid, standing in as skipper for the unwell Hardik Pandya. “That is what T20 is all about, it is about entertainment.”

After two straight wins, two-time champions Kolkata took second spot in the 10-team table, behind leaders Rajasthan Royals.

It was a first defeat of the season for Gujarat, who won the league in their debut campaign last year.

Earlier Gujarat’s Vijay Shankar smashed five sixes in his 24-ball 63 as Gujarat took 45 runs from the final two overs to reach 204-4.

Shankar stood out for Gujarat with his blitz and key partnerships including an unbeaten 51-run fifth-wicket stand with David Miller, who made two.