On Sunday (April 9), the cricketing world witnessed one of the best games in the history of T20s when Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans locked horns against each other in the 13th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.

The Kolkata-based outfit chased down a mammoth total of 205 on the very last ball to condemn the reigning IPL champions to their first defeat of the season. And the way the game came to an end, one can say that very few T20 games in the past witnessed a better finish than that.

Chasing 205, KKR looked all but out of the contest when a Rashid Khan hat-trick reduced them to 155 for 7 in the 17th over of the chase. He dismissed KKR’s pinch hitters Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur to put the Titans on top of the proceedings.

Rinku Singh, however, had other plans. While almost everyone and perhaps including his KKR teammates too gave up hopes, Rinku Singh did not. He finished the 19th over with a six and a four to bring down the equation to an improbable 29 balls from the last over.

Rinku Singh ? Carlos Brathwaite

“Remember the name!”#IPL2023 #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/AHoEs3BfXx

— ICC (@ICC) April 9, 2023

And when Umesh Yadav took a single on the first ball to give Rinku the strike, not many had expected what was going to happen. The southpaw went on to hit the last five balls for five sixes to pull off a heist for his side.

Instances of winning a match with a last ball six in IPL:

While Rinku Singh hitting 5 straight sixes to win a game in IPL is definitely a record, hitting a last ball six to win a game is not. He is not the first player to achieve this feat in India’s premier T20 competition.

The first player to do it was veteran batsman Ambati Rayudu way back in 2011. Currently playing for Chennai Super Kings, Rayudu hit former India pacer L Balaji for a six on the last ball of the match to help Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders in a thriller. Chasing 176, Mumbai needed 4 runs from the last ball to win the contest.

The second instance happened in 2012 with KKR finding themselves at the receiving end once again. Dwayne Bravo was up against Rajat Bhatia with Chennai Super Kings needing 5 runs from the last ball. Bravo hit the last ball for a maximum over long on to pull off a stunning win for his side.

4 years later in 2016, one of cricket’s most decorated finishers MS Dhoni entered the list when he hit consecutive sixes on the last two balls of the final over bowled by Axar Patel to power Rising Pune Supergiant to a thrilling win over Punjab Kings.

Chasing 173, RPS needed 23 off the last over. Axar started well by bowling a dot delivery before bowling a dot delivery. Dhoni then hit the next delivery for a six before Axar bowled a dot as the wicketkeeper-batsman decided against taking any run. On the fourth ball, Dhoni hit a four to bring down the equation to 12 runs from last two balls. He then went on to hit the last two balls for sixes to power RPS to a memorable win.

The 4th instance took place in 2021 when KS Bharat helped Royal Challengers Bangalore beat Delhi Capitals by hitting Avesh Khan for a last ball six. With 5 runs needed from the last ball, Bharat hit a six down the ground to pull off a stunner for his side.

The last player before Rinku to hit a match-winning last ball six in IPL was Rahul Tewatia. The southpaw did it for Gujarat Titans in 2022. Chasing 190 against Punjab Kings, Titans needed 6 off the last ball with Tewatia up against Odean Smith. The left-hander went on to hit the last ball for a six to clinch a win for his side.