Sport
Kolkata’s Rinku hits five sixes in final over to win IPL thriller
Indian batsman Rinku Singh blasted five sixes on the final five balls as Kolkata Knight Riders chased down 205 to stun champions Gujarat Titans in an IPL thriller on Sunday.
The left-hander turned the chase on its head with an unbeaten 21-ball 48, after Kolkata slipped to 155-7 following Rashid Khan’s hat-trick at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad.
Kolkata needed 29 from the final over off Yash Dayal. Rinku took strike after Umesh Yadav’s single on the first ball to send five hits over the fence and silence a raucous home crowd.
The chase was set up by a 40-ball 83 by impact player Venkatesh Iyer, who put on a 100-run third-wicket stand with skipper Nitish Rana, who made 45.
“Tonight was another example that we will never give up as a team,” Iyer said after the three-wicket win. “The wicket was quite good to bat and I was just trying to execute my plans.”
Iyer, who came on in place of Suyash Sharma under the new impact player rule, fell to Alzarri Joseph and Rashid soon took over to claim his first Indian Premier League hat-trick.
Rashid, a champion leg-spinner who now has four hat-tricks in T20 cricket, went for a celebratory sprint after sending back Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur.
But little did Rashid know Rinku and Kolkata would have the last laugh.
“A tough game for us, especially as a captain,” said Rashid, standing in as skipper for the unwell Hardik Pandya. “That is what T20 is all about, it is about entertainment.”
After two straight wins, two-time champions Kolkata took second spot in the 10-team table, behind leaders Rajasthan Royals.
It was a first defeat of the season for Gujarat, who won the league in their debut campaign last year.
Earlier Gujarat’s Vijay Shankar smashed five sixes in his 24-ball 63 as Gujarat took 45 runs from the final two overs to reach 204-4.
Shankar stood out for Gujarat with his blitz and key partnerships including an unbeaten 51-run fifth-wicket stand with David Miller, who made two.
Abu Muslim Farah defeated Khurasan Faryab 2-0 in the 25th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan.
The match was played on Saturday at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium in Kabul.
Both teams pushed for an opening goal in the first half, but neither side managed to find the net, and the teams went into the break goalless.
Just two minutes into the second half, Abu Muslim Farah broke the deadlock to take a 1-0 lead.
Alireza Panahi later doubled Abu Muslim Farah’s advantage, sealing a 2-0 victory for the Farah side.
Abu Muslim Farah committed 13 fouls and received two yellow cards, while Khorasan Faryab committed seven fouls and received one yellow card.
Matches from the sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League are being broadcast live and exclusively on Ariana Television.
Omar Zawak Herat secured a 1-0 victory over Toofan Herat in the 24th match of the sixth season of Afghanistan Champions League Roshan in Kabul.
The match was played on Saturday at the Afghanistan Football Federation Stadium.
Both sides created scoring opportunities in the first half, but neither team managed to find the net before the break.
Omar Zawak Herat broke the deadlock in the 86th minute when Shadab Malikzadah scored with a fine strike to give his side the lead.
Toofan Herat committed eight fouls and received two yellow cards, while Omar Zawak Herat recorded six fouls and received one yellow card and one red card.
Toofan Herat will face Aino Mina Kandahar on September 29, while Omar Zawak Herat will take on Abu Muslim Farah on September 30.
Matches from the sixth season of the Roshan Afghanistan Champions League are being broadcast live on Ariana Television.
Afghanistan are set to face India in the Asian Games cricket quarter-finals after Saturday’s rain-hit match between Nepal and Japan confirmed the Pool A standings.
The quarter-final between India and Afghanistan is scheduled to take place on September 28 in Nisshin, Japan.
Nepal secured first place in the group after Japan’s chase was washed out. Nepal had scored 149 runs for four wickets in 15 overs after being sent in to bat, but persistent rain prevented Japan from starting its innings.
The result saw Nepal advance as Pool A winners, with Afghanistan joining them in the quarter-finals as the other qualifying team. Nepal will face Sri Lanka in the quarter-finals.
Japan have been eliminated from the tournament.
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