While Kolkata Knight Riders celebrated their miraculous win over Gujarat Titans wildly, they made sure to come up with a much-needed gesture for Yash Dayal. The fast-bowler was at the receiving end of an outrageous knock from Rinku Singh and looked absolutely distraught after the game ended.
Thanks to Rinku’s unbelievable knock, Kolkata Knight Riders pulled off an absolute heist as they chased down 205 to condemn the defending IPL champions to their first defeat of the season. The two-time IPL champions looked well out of the contest when a Rashid Khan hat-trick reduced them to 155 for 7 in the 17th over.
And their win looked almost impossible when Yash Dayal came to bowl the final over. With Umesh Yadav on strike and Rinku on the other end, he had to defend 29 runs. He began well by conceding a single as Umesh took the run to give Rinku the strike.
What followed thereafter was absolute carnage as Rinku left the cricketing world gasping for breath with his composure and batting skills. He hit all the 5 balls for sixes to give Kolkata Knight Riders one of the best wins in the history of T20s.
And while Rinku and his teammates celebrated the win wildly, Yash Dayal looked absolutely distraught. The fast-bowler was crestfallen after finding himself at the receiving end of some brutal power-hitting from his state teammate.
As Dayal was finding it hard to deal with the hammering he received, Kolkata Knight Riders came up with a brilliant gesture for him. The franchise took to their social media handles to post a brilliant message for the pacer, writing: “Chin up, lad. Just a hard day at the office, happens to the best of players in cricket. You’re a champion, @imyash_dayal, and you’re gonna come back strong.”
Rinku was adjudged the Man of the Match for his brilliant effort. He remained unbeaten on 48 off just 21 balls. 40 of those runs came on the last 7 deliveries he faced. Before the 20th over, he had finished the 19th over by hitting Josh Little for a six and a four.
Rinku Singh on his effort:
Speaking at the end of the game, Rinku opened up on his knock. The left-handed batsman said that he was confident of doing the task for the team.
“Had the belief that I can do it. Last year I was in a similar situation in Lucknow. Had the belief back then too. Didn’t think too much out there. Those shots just happened one after the other. That last one was back of the hand, and I struck it off the back foot,” said Rinku at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Gujarat Titans will be looking to bounce back when they take on Punjab Kings in their next match on Thursday (April 13) in Mohali. High-flying Knight Riders, on the other hand, will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next outing. Both Knight Riders and Titans now have 2 wins from three games.