After a spectacular blitzkrieg from Rinku Singh’s bat, Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Gujarat Titans by three wickets in the Indian Premier League. With the Knights needing 29 runs in the last over, the southpaw smacked five sixes in five balls to send them home.
Previously, Vijay Shankar’s amazing fifty helped Gujarat break the 200-run mark and finish at 204/4 in 20 overs. The hosts’ strong finish, in which they scored 45 runs in the last two overs, contributed to their large total.
On Sunday, Gujarat Titans won the toss and chose to bat first against Kolkata Knight Riders in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Rashid Khan led from the front and returned with 3 for 37, while Alzarri Joseph (2/27) picked up two wickets, but their efforts were in vain. Venkatesh Iyer hit 83 off 40 balls for KKR, while skipper Nitish Rana hit 45 off 29 balls.
Rinku played the knock of his life, hitting one four and as many as six shots over the fence to secure a memorable victory for KKR. Previously, after opting to bat, GT amassed 204 for four off the bats of Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar. Hardik Pandya was unable to play due to illness, and Rashid led GT in his place.
Sudharsan scored 53 off 38 balls, while Shankar hit an undefeated 63 off 24 balls. In addition to Sudharsan and Shankar, starter Shubman Gill scored 39 points. Sunil Narine took three wickets for KKR, conceding 33 runs.
Score: Gujarat Titans: 204 for 4 in 20 overs Vijay Shankar 63 not out, Sai Sudharsan 53; Sunil Narine 3/33.