Once again, it came down to the final over in a nail-biting chase. Once again, Rinku Singh, almost unknown before the season began, was there to take Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) across the line. This time, though, his 10-ball 21 played second fiddle to Andre Russell, KKR’s hugely influential all-rounder, who announced his return to form with a blazing 23-ball 42. That included a game-changing three sixes in Sam Curran’s penultimate over.
With KKR needing just six off the final over, Arshdeep Singh was magnificent, conceding just four from the first five balls. But when he missed his yorker by a distance on the final delivery, Rinku was in position to smash it behind square for four. “We just wanted to stick it out,” said Russell after the game, in conversation with the host broadcaster. “We knew they might miss their lengths and we could swing it around. Needing 30 (26) off the final two [overs], it was very gettable.
“I flicked one into the stands without really swinging at it. And that six over point put the icing on the cake. I wanted to finish the game off, but we have a finisher this year in Rinku. He had told me what if the ball beats you, should we go for the run? I said for sure, I have faith in him to finish it last ball.”
“I was playing on the merit of the ball,” said Rinku, man of the moment. “I had the belief in me that I could finish the game. I have got used to it. Sometimes I bat at 5, sometimes at 6 or 7. I practice that way.”
Nitish Rana, the KKR captain whose 38-ball 51 set up the late surge, was full of praise for both his finishers. “Ten matches have gone, and we were all waiting for that one Russell innings to come,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “He was one innings away. I kept backing him, saying you have done a lot, and you will 100 per cent win us a game.”
Ultimately though, it still needed Rinku’s coolness under pressure. “I just keep telling him, believe in yourself because what you have achieved is something not many people will,” said Rana. “When he was batting, the whole crowd was chanting ‘Rinku, Rinku’. That is what he has earned this year.”