Rinku Singh has been among Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) standout performers in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and he proved his worth to the franchise with a heroic 40 that nearly helped his side come out on top in a high-scoring thriller against the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday.
Rinku had chipped in with valuable performances throughout the season before this game, collecting 134 runs in six outings. His sensational 40 off just 15 deliveries against LSG though, will not only have made him a household name across the country, but will ensure the team management considers him an integral member of the KKR middle order and and includes him in the team's core going forward.
Kolkata got off to the worst start possible after Lucknow set them 211 to win, losing both openers with less than 10 on board before the trio of skipper Shreyas Iyer, Nitish Rana and Sam Billings led a dramatic turnaround with valuable knocks. Iyer, who had been producing a string of low scores in recent games, bounced back to form with a half-century.
Aligarh native Rinku found himself at the crease at a stage when Lucknow were staging a turnaround in the middle overs with a flurry of wickets, and the chase appeared done and dusted in KL Rahul and Co's favour after Mohsin Khan got rid of big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell in the 17th over, the Jamaican departing after a patchy knock of 5 off 11.
Both Rinku and West Indian all-rounder Sunil Narine though, kept KKR hanging by a thread as both collected a six each in each of the next two overs — bowled by Avesh Khan and Jason Holder respectively.
The dramatic final over
KL Rahul turned to Australian seam-bowling all-rounder Marcus Stoinis for the all-important final over, in which KKR needed 21 to win with Rinku on strike for the first delivery.
Stoinis was then guilty of bowling overpitched deliveries while attempting yorkers, putting it in the slot for a well-set Rinku to smash it out of the park. Rinku gleefully accepted the gifts, going for a lofted drive over towards the vacant extra cover fence before hitting back-to-back maximums — over cow corner and long off respectively. By collecting a double in the fourth ball, Rinku brought the equation down to three off just two deliveries.
- Remember the name! @rinkusingh235 #AmiKKR #KKRvLSG #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/gZCsEMaEN0
— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) May 18, 2022
It should've been a cakewalk for the southpaw from thereon and he would've backed himself to pull off one of KKR's greatest wins of all time. Instead, it took a one-handed blinder by Evin Lewis to bring his dramatic knock of 40 off 15 balls to an end.
KKR could've still made it through had Umesh Yadav connected in the final ball, but he missed completely and ended up getting his off-stump rattled, leading to delirious celebrations in the Lucknow camp as they clinched a playoff berth.
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