Rinku Singh gained instant fame, as he smashed five consecutive sixes in the final over of the game to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. He emerged as the unlikely hero for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their win over Gujarat Titans on Sunday (April 9) in IPL 2023. Following this, Kolkata Knight Riders came up with an epic comparison between MS Dhoni and Rinku Singh, reminding fans of Dhoni’s immortal six which usually help India win matches.
The entire nation celebrated Rinku's one-man show. After the match, Twitterati bowed down to Rinku and his name started trending on Twitter. While many former cricketers hailed Rinku, it was KKR's tweet that caught everyone's attention. Kolkata Knight Riders made an interesting comparison and wrote, "6 to win the match - Dhoni 6, 6 to win the match - Tewatia 6, 6, 6, 6, 6 to win the match - ONLY RINKU SINGH!" it wrote.
With this, fans were quick to hail Rinku Singh's historic win. Take a look:
KKR vs GT
Gujarat Titans posted 204/4 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first. Vijay Shankar top-scored with 63 off 24 balls, consisting of four boundaries and five sixes. Sai Sudharshan also scored his second half-century in IPL 2023, scoring 53 in 38 balls consisting of three fours and two sixes. Shubman Gill also played a solid knock of 39 runs in 31 balls, with five fours. Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/33 in four overs. Suyash Sharma also continued his solid run after a three-fer against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous match, taking 1/35 in his four overs.
In chase of 205 runs, KKR was reduced to 28/2, but skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) put on a hundred-run stand for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 83 in 40 balls, which consisted of eight fours and five sixes. Dismissal of these two set batters and Rashid's hat-trick put KKR on the backfoot at 155/7. The equation came down to 29 runs in the final over.
Rinku Singh came through with a clutch cameo, hitting five successive sixes in the final over to seal what was once an improbable win for KKR. Rinku scored 48* in 21 balls, consisting of one four and six sixes. Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for GT, taking 3/37. Alzarri Joseph took two, while Joshua Little and Mohammed Shami took a wicket each. Rinku Singh was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his unbelievable match-winning cameo.
