Rinku Singh produced a knock for the ages as he made history on Sunday by smashing five sixes in the final over of Kolkata Knight Riders' run chase against Gujarat Titans to negate Rashid Khan's hat-trick, the first of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Needing 29 to win in the final over, Rinku got the strike on the second balls and smashed Yash Dayal for five sixes in a row to pull off an improbably win for KKR as they gunned down the target of 205 against the defending champions.
Rinku smashed the record for the highest target achieved in last over off an inngs in IPL with this knock.
The previous highest was Rising Pune Supergiant's 23 against Punjab Kings in the final over of a match in IPL 2016 in Vizag.
Rinku Singh ended up with 48 not out off 21 balls with six sixes and a four. His match-winning knock came after Venkatesh Iyer smashed 83 off 40 balls to lay the foundation for KKR's chase.
Rinku also matched the record for five sixes in an over in the IPL, something which only Chris Gayle, Rahul Tewatia and Ravindra Jadeja have been able to do individually in the past.
Venkatesh Iyer roars back to form
Rinku's final over heroics came after Venkatesh Iyer roared back to form and smashed 83 off 40 balls to lay the foundation for KKR's 205-run chase.
Iyer's innings was laced with 8 fours and five sixes while Rinku hit six maximums and a solitary boundary. Iyer was also part of a 100-run partnership for the third wicket with captain Nitish Rana, who contributed with 45 off 29 balls.
