The 16th season of the Indian Premier League has been an exhilarating tournament thus far, as supporters have witnessed incredible matches. The Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders clashed in the thirteenth match at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, and Venkatesh Iyer had outstanding batting performances, but Rashid Khan stole the show with his hat-trick at a pivotal point in the game. Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur were eliminated by the 24-year-old, who captained his team during the match, to reverse the tide of the contest.
Russell and Rinku Singh were at the crease, with KKR needing 50 runs off the final 24 deliveries, with the score at 155/5 after 16 overs. Based on their performance in the previous match, KKR was the favorite to prevail.
However, Rashid Khan had other plans, dismissing the dangerous Russell for a mere 1(2) with the very first delivery of his over. Second in line, Narine was run out to deep mid-wicket on the second delivery of the over. The wrist spinner drew his most potent weapon from his arsenal and bowled a no-ball to the previous game’s man of the match, Thakur, trapping him in front of the wickets to complete a hat-trick.
It was the 22nd hat trick in the annals of the Indian Premier League, and Rashid was the 19th bowler overall to accomplish the feat. Nonetheless, there was still optimism in the KKR camp, as Rinku Singh remained at the crease.
Rinku Singh scripted KKR’s unlikely victory.
With Umesh Yadav on strike and KKR needing 29 runs off the final over, the game appeared to be over. The seamer returned the strike to Singh after Yash Dayal’s first delivery. Singh scripted a miraculous victory for Kolkata by smashing five consecutive sixes off the final five balls, resulting in utter destruction.
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