Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Nitish Rana heaped praise on the youngster Rinku Singh for his stunning finish to a game in the history of the cash-rich league. The 25-year-old smashed 40 runs in seven consecutive balls to snatch victory from the hands of defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Rinku Singh produced arguably the greatest finish in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and became the first-ever player in T20 history to smash five sixes in a successful chase.
“We had belief because Rinku had done something similar last year, although we did not win. After the second six, we started to believe more because Yash Dayal was also not executing well. You win one out of a hundred matches this way,” Nitish Rana said.
Gujarat Titans pacer Yash Dayal crumbled under pressure and errored in his line and length in the final over, which helped Rinku to deposit five consecutive sixes in the stands of the World’s largest stadium. Speaking on their bowling performance, Nitish Rana feels that his team was bowling well till the 18th over before Vijay Shankar’s brilliant 46 runs in the last two overs.
“We were bowling well for 18 overs but did not bowl well toward the end. Same in the batting department where we allowed Rashid and GT back into the game. This result, though, is only down to Rinku and his brilliance,” Nitish Rana added.
Coming into the match, Rashid-Khan led Gujarat Titans in the absence of Hardik Pandya, who missed out on the match due to an illness, batting first the defending champions had a decent start with Gill and Sudharsan added 67 for the second wicket, off just 44 balls, before the false shot by Gill to have him caught at long-on.
But the star for Gujarat Titans is Vijay Shankar as he struck four fours and five sixes to finish unbeaten on 63 off 24 as the last two overs produced 45 runs to take his team past the 200 runs mark.
With 205 Runs, Kolkata Knight Riders once again had a poor start losing their openers for 28 runs at end of 4 overs, before Venkatesh Iyer and their skipper Nitish Rana stitched up the partnership of 100-stand in 54 balls. Venkatesh Iyer was at his absolute best as he scored 40-ball 83 before being dismissed by Alzarri Joseph and their stand-in skipper Rashid Khan brought the defending champions into the game by picking up the first-hattrick of the season before Rinku Singh’s heroics stunned the full-packed Narendra Modi Stadium.
I Do Not Have Words To Describe Rinku Singh’s Innings – Nitish Rana
Nithish Rana reminded his conversation with the reporters after their match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he was questioned about Rinku Singh playing the secondary role in the team and said that this inning is a sample of what is capable of doing if given a primary role in the team.
“Reporters had asked me the other day, why Rinku does not play a bigger role. If this is his secondary role, then imagine what he can do in a primary role. I do not have words to describe Rinku’s innings,” Nitish Rana said.
The two-time champions registered their back-to-back wins in their two matches and will look to continue their winning momentum against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the next match in iconic Eden Gardens On April 14.