Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) hopes for a playoff spot ended as they lost against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by one run in their last Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL) match on Saturday. But Rinku Singh left his mark again as he almost pulled off an impossible finish for KKR. The young left-handed batter smashed 67* off 33 to drag the game to the wire with the help of six fours and four sixes. Rinku smashed seven boundaries in the last two overs when KKR needed 41 runs to win and surpassed the likes of MS Dhoni and Rohit Sharma in a big IPL record.
Rinku smashed one six in the 19th over and two more in the last over as he recorded four sixes during his brave innings. Rinku has recorded 29 sixes in IPL 2023 and nine of those have come in the last over (20th). He surpassed four IPL legends to become the first cricketer to smash nine sixes in the 20th over in any IPL season. Chennai Super Kings' legendary skipper MS Dhoni recorded eight sixes in the 20th over on two occasions (2014 and 2019) while Mumbai Indians' captain Rohit Sharma smashed eight sixes in the last over in IPL 2013.
Most sixes in the 20th over in a single IPL season:
- 9 - Rinku Singh (2023)*
- 8 - Dwayne Bravo (2012)
- 8 - Rohit Sharma (2013)
- 8 - MS Dhoni (2014)
- 8 - MS Dhoni (2019)
- 8 - Hardik Pandya (2019)
Rinku finished the IPL 2023 season as a leading run-scorer for Kolkata Knight Riders with 474 runs from 14 innings at an average of 59.25 and a strike rate of 149.52 with the help of four fifties. His numbers while chasing are further impressive, with 305 runs from seven innings at an average of 152.50 and a strike rate of 174.28. Notably, Rinku's all four fifties came while chasing as he displayed his finishing skills throughout the season.
