The tagline of the IPL reads “ Where Talent Meets Opportunity* and this has never been more true than what happened with Rinku Singh a few days ago at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans and the match was a great one and it all came down to the last over where KKR needed 29 from the last over.
Rinku Singh is a name that not a lot of fans know about, just that he played a Blinder last year against Lucknow Supergiants where he made 40 from 14 balls and KKR lost the match. Rinku Singh got a similar opportunity in the last match and what he did was simply mind boggling.
So, let’s look at the historic feat of Rinku Singh:
KKR were in all sorts of trouble
It is important to understand the context of the match before the innings of Rinku Singh is looked into. KKR were in trouble when Rashid Khan took a hat trick and almost won the match for Gujarat Titans and all the bowlers bowled really well and 2 points were secured for the defending champions and the last hope was Rinku Singh. And then came the last over when KKR needed 29 from 6 balls to chase down 205 to win.
The Over that changed everything
The last over of the match was up and the bowler was Yash Dayal who was under pressure as he had already given 38 runs from his 3 overs. Umesh Yadav took a single from the first ball of the over and it was 28 needed from the last 5 balls and only 5 sixes could have won KKR the match. In this situation 99 times out of a 100 , the bowling team would win the match because it is almost impossible for any batter to hit 5 consecutive sixes no matter how great they are. Yash Dayal was in the advantage but then the carnage started and when it started then it did not stop till the last ball of the match.
Rinku Singh hit the first six to the off side over long on and that was considered as a consolation shot as nothing would happen after that and the precedent was that It will stop at some stage. Then the next six was over Square leg and this time there was a little bit of pressure but not that much that it caused panic as 16 runs were needed from 3 balls. Then the third six was over extra cover and this one was the best one as this is the hardest shot to hit and now it was 10 runs from 2 balls and for the first time there was panic in the Gujarat Titans camp and in Yash Dayal. The fourth six was over long on and now KKR believed that they had a good chance of winning this impossible match and Rinku Singh was on the cusp of history.
Yash Dayal was in tremendous pressure and everyone was giving him advice as to how and where to bowl the last ball to Rinku Singh and then he ran and bowled a slower ball and Rinku Singh hit the 5th six of the over and it was straight down the ground and Rinku Singh has etched his name in the history books as having chased the most number of runs in a T20 match or an IPL match. He became a superstar and everyone in his hometown of Aligarh was over the moon. The KKR players and the coaches were speechless and Twitter was in a meltdown. Rinku Singh had done the impossible and the IPL was alive and well yet again. Rinku Singh had made 48* from 21 balls and in his last 7 balls he scored 40 runs with 6 sixes and a four.
