New Delhi: 29 runs were needed in the last over and Umesh Yadav gave the strike to Rinku Singh with a single. Rinku Singh showed his finishing ability as he hit Yash Dayal for five consecutive sixes to chase the total and win an almost-lost game for KKR. Rashid Khan coming into captain Gujarat Titans in the absence of Hardik Pandya picked the first hat-trick of IPL 2023.
Rashid dismissed the power hitters Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur to change the game, but Rinku Singh had other plans. He ended up scoring 48* off 21 as he chased 205. Venkatesh Iyer laid the foundation in the chase as he scored 83 off 40 while captain Nitish Rana contributed a crucial 45 off 29.
Alzarri Joseph bowled exceptionally well and when the game was slipping from the hands of GT, he dismissed Nitish Rana and returned to pick the danger-man Iyer. KKR lost four wickets in no time but Yash Dayal’s full-tosses cost the Titans the game as he offer easy pickings for Rinku Singh, who was in no mood to settle for anything less than a six.
On the other side, Rashid Khan first picked Russell as he edged the ball and KS Bharat took a catch behind the stumps. Given not out, GT reviewed and dismissed the ultimate power-hitter. On the next ball, Narine tried to strike but handed a catch to Jayant Yadav and Rashid picked up his hat-trick with a googly to trap Shardul lbw.
In the first inning, Vijay Shankar showed the fireworks in the last two overs and scored 63* off 24 to provide the required finish. He also hit three consecutive sixes in the 20th over by Shardul Thakur to help GT cross the 200-run mark.
B Sai Sudharsan also scored 53 off 38, while Shubman Gill contributed 39 off 31. Umesh Yadav bowled well with the new ball and Sunil Narine picked up three wickets, including the dismissal of Wriddhiman Saha where N Jagadeesan took a stunner.
