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Following his match-winning cameo against Gujarat Giants in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match, Kolkata Knight Riders batter Rinku Singh said that he had belief that he could finish off the match and he was not thinking a lot, just reacting to the ball while hitting.
Kolkata Knight Riders' Rinku Singh's five consecutive sixes in the last over took the win away from Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. "I had a belief that I can do this. Rana bhai (Nitish Rana, KKR skipper) said to keep the belief and to bat till the end, then we will see what happens. (On the single) I was just trying to hit sixes. (Umesh Yadav) Bhaiya was asking me not to think much and just play the ball. I was not thinking a lot, was just reacting to the ball. It kept coming out of the middle, I had belief and it came off in the end," said Rinku in a post-match presentation. Coming to the match, Gujarat Titans posted 204/4 in their 20 overs after electing to bat first. Vijay Shankar top-scored with 63 off 24 balls, consisting of four boundaries and five sixes. Sai Sudharshan also scored his second half-century in IPL 2023, scoring 53 in 38 balls consisting of three fours and two sixes. Shubman Gill also played a solid knock of 39 runs in 31 balls, with five fours. Sunil Narine was the pick of the bowlers for KKR, taking 3/33 in four overs. Suyash Sharma also continued his solid run after a three-fer against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the previous match, taking 1/35 in his four overs. In chase of 205 runs, KKR was reduced to 28/2, but skipper Nitish Rana (45 off 29 balls with four boundaries and three sixes) put on a hundred-run stand for the third wicket with Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 83 in 40 balls, which consisted of eight fours and five sixes. Dismissal of these two set batters and Rashid's hat-trick put KKR on the backfoot at 155/7. The equation came down to 29 runs in the final over. Rinku Singh came through with a clutch cameo, hitting five successive sixes in the final over to seal what was once an improbable win for KKR. Rinku scored 48* in 21 balls, consisting of one four and six sixes. Rashid was the pick of the bowlers for GT, taking 3/37. Alzarri Joseph took two, while Joshua Little and Mohammed Shami took a wicket each. Rinku Singh was given the 'Player of the Match' award for his unbelievable match-winning cameo. With this win, KKR has climbed to third position in the points table, winning two of their three matches and losing one. They have a total of four points. GT has slipped to fourth position and has a similar win-loss record to KKR, but KKR is one position up due to a superior net-run-rate. (ANI)
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