Atreyo Mukhopadhyay
Here are Revsportz’s takeaways from Kolkata Knight Riders’ unbelievable last-ball victory against Gujarat Titans.
The most bizarre last over
In the history of cricket, sixes have been hit in all six balls of an over. It’s unusual, but not unprecedented. But I do not think the last five balls of a match have been hammered out of the ground when that was the requirement. This was unprecedented in that sense. Unbelievable, from Rinku Singh and Yash Dayal, and Kolkata Knight Riders against Gujarat Titans. You run out of adjectives. Dear readers, please bear with me. I have seen cricket at various levels for a long time. Not anything like this. Twenty eight needed off the last five balls, and 30 achieved. This has not happened in the history of institutionalised and high-stakes cricket. Those who saw this are privileged. Hitting sixes in succession when that was the only requirement makes this a bizarre accomplishment.
The incredible Rinku
Rinku, who? A fairly accomplished batter for Uttar Pradesh on the domestic circuit. He scores runs in several formats, and has a reputation of being someone who excels when the chips are down. Remember KKR’s last group match against Lucknow Super Giants last year. It was another improbable chase where Rinku went berserk and brought his team incredibly close before being denied by an unbelievable catch by Ewin Lewis. He looked devastated that day, almost as if the world had come to an end. Today he was somewhat expressionless. And that was even more unnerving. Someone performing an incredible act, and yet appearing so unmoved by the enormity of his performance. Give it to him. He was unbelievable.
What did you do, Dayal?
Think about Yash Dayal! All he had to do was to bowl one or two dot balls. Even go for a couple of singles, twos or fours. But he bowled such a horrible over. Full tosses and half-trackers. It was easy pickings for Rinku. Not taking anything away from the batter, but it was such a nightmarish effort from the bowler. He had a bright start when KKR began their chase by taking a fine catch to dismiss Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Then he went for a few runs, but still had respectable numbers. But what was that? One dot ball, match over. Instead, you do that? Possibly the worst last over in the history of white-ball cricket.
Spare a thought for Rashid
One also has to think of Rashid Khan. Stand-in skipper and a standout performer. Going wicket-less for 35 runs in three overs, he came back and delivered what almost inevitably was the killer blow. A hat-trick and just two singles in the 17th over. It was game over, everybody thought. With due credit to Rinku’s miraculous performance, this was also a memorable effort. How many times do you see a leg-spinner or any bowler dish out that kind of a performance at that stage of a T20 match? His team suffered a devastating defeat, but Rashid was a winner.
The Iyer show
We will see and learn more about these batters from Tamil Nadu. Sai Sudarshan has been an outstanding performer in every format and at every level. His was a marvellous effort. What about Vijay Shankar? He pushed the total past 200 when 175-180 was looking most likely. Give credit also to this fantastic performance by Venkatesh Iyer, who represents Madhya Pradesh but has roots in Tamil Nadu. He kept KKR in the match when they seemed doomed. Those lofted shots were massive and mattered a lot. A significant innings after some time means much for him and his team. Rinku was the star of the day, but it would not have happened had Iyer not played that knock.