Cricket

'Itna naam bhi nahin banana thha' - Fans in splits as Kendra Lust praises Rinku Singh's heroics against Gujarat Titans

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Daniel S
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Rinku Singh, Kendra Lust

Rinku Singh, Kendra Lust (Image Credit: Twitter)

Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh pulled off an unlikely win against Gujarat Titans on April 9. In the game, the home team, GT won the toss and elected to bat first. Rashid Khan led the side in absence of Hardik Pandya who was unwell. Meanwhile, batting first, the defending champions amassed 204/4. For them, Sai Sudharshan (53) and Vijay Shankar (63*) played valuable innings.

In reply, KKR had a poor start as they lost two wickets for 28 runs. However, skipper Nitish Rana (45) and impact sub, Venkatesh Iyer (83) put together 100 runs for the third wicket. Things changed drastically when they got out in 14th and 16th over respectively. Rashid Khan took a hat trick after having a bad day with the ball. After this, Rinku Singh and Umesh Yadav were left to do the heavy lifting.

In the last three overs, the Knight Riders needed 48 runs. The next two overs saw only 19 runs coming and the team needed 29 runs to win. On the first ball of the last over, Yadav took a single and Singh were on strike. The left-hander, Singh hit five sixes to take the two-time winners home.

Rinku Singh was adjudged Player of the Match

After his heroics, the UP player was adjudged Player of the Match. He said that he believed that he would hit those five sixes. Singh added that Umesh Yadav asked him not to think too much and just play the ball on merit.

"I had belief that I can do this. Rana bhai said to keep belief and to bat till the end, then we will see what happens. (On the single) I was just trying to hit sixes. (Umesh) Bhaiya was asking me not to think much and just play the ball. I was not thinking a lot, was just reacting to the ball. It kept coming out of the middle, I had belief and it came off in the end," Singh said at the post-match presentation.

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Indian Premier League 2023 IPL Kolkata Knight Riders Rinku Singh