Rinku Singh the phoenix!
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It looked like Rashid had killed the chase, but Rinku Singh rose like a phoenix. With 39 needed from eight balls, he hit Little for a four and six to make it 29 needed from the final over. Despite those two boundaries, Knight Riders' win probability was just 1.29%.
Yash Dayal had the ball, and Umesh did well to get a single off the first ball and bring Rinku Singh back on strike.
And Rinku went 6, 6, 6, 6, 6. This is what they mean when they say truth is stranger than fiction - Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have scripted it.
Absolute scenes at the Narendra Modi Stadium as the Knight Riders players mob Rinku. I don't think have seen a finish like this. Sampath says the same with the help of numbers:
Previous most target runs successfully chased in the 20th over in T20s:
23 by Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder in 2015, and Rising Pune Supergiant vs KXIP in 2016
23 by Sydney Sixers vs Sydney Thunder in 2015, and Rising Pune Supergiant vs KXIP in 2016
Previous most runs scored in the 20th over to win a T20 match:
26 by Deccan Chargers vs KKR in 2009 (Target was 21)
26 by Deccan Chargers vs KKR in 2009 (Target was 21)
That's all I have to say for now, but I am sure we will wake up tomorrow still talking about this match, and this man.
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Rashid vs Russell
5 Rashid has now dismissed Russell five times in 39 balls for 54 runs
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Rashid hat-trick kills the game
... but if you were hoping for a close finish, we have an anti-climax here. Rashid Khan had gone for 34 in his first three overs but on the first three deliveries of his fourth over, he had Russell caught behind off an inside edge and pad, Narine caught at deep midwicket, and Thakur lbw with a googly. It was his fourth hat-trick in T20 cricket.
Rinku is still battling in the middle with 48 needed from 18 balls, you would think it's too tall a mountain to climb.
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Iyer falls, a big relief for Titans
It looked like Iyer was going to take Knight Riders home single-handedly. He hit Little two fours and a six in the 15th over to reduce the equation to 56 needed from five overs. In the next over, he hit Joseph for a boundary but was caught at long-on for 83 off 40 balls.
His over left Knight Riders needing 50 from 24 balls but Andre Russell was still at the crease...
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More on Vijay Shankar
Deivarayan Muthu: A shoulder injury had cut short Vijay Shankar's IPL stint in 2022. After undergoing surgery on his right shoulder, Vijay missed the Vijay Hazare and Syed Mushtaq Ali tournaments for Tamil Nadu.
Desperate times call for desperate measures: Vijay learnt to throw accurately with his left arm so that he could reduce the impact on his right shoulder. He was supposed to even miss the start of the Ranji Trophy but he completed his rehab ahead of time at the NCA in Bengaluru and marked his return with three successive centuries, including one against Mumbai at the Brabourne Stadium.
Vijay has struggled in his IPL stints with Chennai Super Kings, Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad, but now he seems to have finally found a home at Gujarat Titans.
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Iyer brings up fifty
... of 26 balls with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Alzarri Joseph, though, has broken the stand - 100 runs in 9.1 overs- with Rana's wicket. He looked to clear mid-off but didn't have the elevation. Knight Riders have sent in Rinku Singh at No. 5, ahead of Andre Russell.
Knight Riders need 73 from 36 balls
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Iyer, Rana keep Knight Riders in the game
Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer and captain Nitish Rana have kept Knight Riders' in the contest. Knight Riders finished the powerplay on 43 for 2. Even after the field restrictions were lifted, Iyer and Rana kept picking boundaries. Iyer hit Dayal for a four and six in the seventh over. In the next, Rana smashed Alzarri Joseph for two sixes.
Rashid brought himself on in the ninth over but went for ten.
Knight Riders 78 for 2 after nine
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KKR's opening woes
9 Opening pairs KKR used across 17 matches since the start of IPL 2022. Only once they had a 50-plus stand, and only twice a partnership of 30 or more runs.
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Shami, Little strike early
Rahmanullah Gurbaz started in his typical uninhibited manner, hitting a six off Little and a four off Shami but Shami dismissed him with a short ball. Gurbaz gloved the pull and for a moment it looked like Bharat and Yash Dayal, charging in from short leg, might end up having a horrible collision. Somehow, they not only avoided any damage but Dayal also managed to hold onto the catch.
Little sent back Jagadeesan from the other end. After leaking just two runs from the first five balls, he had Jagadeesan pulling one straight to deep square leg.
Meanwhile, Knight Riders have brought in Venkatesh Iyer for Suyash Sharma.
Knight Riders 28 for 2 after four
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Titans use their Impact Player
As expected, Titans have brought in Josh Little, for Sai Sudharsan who can put his feet up after a well-constructed half-century. Also, KS Bharat is keeping wicket; Saha was hit in the ribs while batting.
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Vijay Shankar's blinder lifts Titans to 204
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After 18 overs, Titans were 159 for 4. It looked like they would be happy to cross 180. Vijay Shankar had other ideas. He just went on a hitting spree, smashing four fours and five sixes to finish with an unbeaten 63 off 24. The last two overs produced 45 runs as Vijay smashed Ferguson for two fours and two sixes before launching three successive sixes off Shardul Thakur in the last over.
The run rate for Vijay Shankar and David Miller's partnership (51 in 2.3 overs)was 20.4, the third highest for a 50-plus stand in the IPL, adds our statsman Sampath Bandarupalli.
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The rise and rise of Sudharsan
Sai Sudharsan got his chance because of an injury to Kane Williamson. He has done the work to make the most of it and is now collecting the rewards. After an unbeaten 62 against Delhi Capitals to steer a chase, he has brought up another half-century, off 34 balls. Deivarayan Muthu traces his rise here - have a read.
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Suyash cuts short Manohar's innings
As Arun was saying, it's the deceptive Suyash googly that has struck. Manohar played forward, expecting it turn away. In the process, he left a gap between the bat and pad. The ball spun back to beat the inside edge, brush front pad and crash into the stumps.
His first ball to Vijay Shankar, the new batter, is another googly that thudded into the batter's pad. There was an appeal for lbw, which was denied. Knight Riders reviewed it, and the third umpire is convinced it hit the bat first - both bat and pad were next to each other.
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Manohar the pinch-hitter
Titans' top three had set the platform. Now they needed to build on that, and Abhinav Manohar, playing his first game this season and sent in at No. 4, did just that by hitting three consecutive fours off Umesh. Titans' run rate is hovering around nine, and our Forecaster expects them to continue with that and finish at 179.
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Titans 115 for 2 after 13
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Bharat Arun on Narine, Varun and Suyash
Bharat Arun had a long stint with the Indian team as their bowling coach. He is now with Knight Riders and this is how he assesses Narine, Varun and Suyash (not verbatim):
“Narine has done it all around the world; he is someone who turns the ball both ways. Suyash is more of a current-generation bowler, sending down fast legbreaks and mixing it up with a deceptive googly. Varun relies on the pace.”
And what did they discuss during the time out? “Our plan was to bowl straighter to them and we just revisited that.”
As I was typing that, Narine has got rid of Gill. Sudharsan had started the over with a straight six. Gill tried the same a few balls later but couldn't middle the ball and holed out to long-on. He made 39 off 31.
Titans 101 for 2 after 12
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Narine strikes second ball
After a slow start, it looked like Saha was looking to accelerate. He lofted Umesh and Lockie Ferguson for a boundary each but when he tried to take on Narine, he ended up top-edging a slog sweep, and Jagadeesan took a brilliant over-the-shoulder catch running backwards towards deep midwicket.
After Narine's over, the fifth of the innings, Titans were 38 for 1. Gill then showed his class, caressing two successive fours of Varun in the sixth over. There were five wides as well before those boundaries, which means Varun ended up conceding 16.
Titans 54 for 1 after powerplay
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Ferguson clocks 154.1kph
Lockie Ferguson had bowled the fastest ball in IPL 2022: 157.3kph. It came during the final of the last season when Ferguson was playing for Titans.
His first over today reads (in kph):
149, 154.1, 150.5, 151.4, 129, 127, 132.1
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The offcutter grips and turns - a sign of things to come?
In their pitch report, both Matthew Hayden and Rohan Gavaskar stated that the surface was full of runs, but where Hayden felt it would assist seam bowlers more, Gavaskar said spinners will have a bigger say.
Now, in the third over, Umesh Yadav bowled an offcutter to Wriddhiman Saha that gripped and turned to find the inside edge. Is this a sign of things to come?
Titans 24 for 0 after three
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Impact Player strategy
If you noticed, Titans have only three overseas players in their starting XI: David Miller, Rashid Khan and Alzarri Joseph. Josh Little and Matthew Wade are among the five substitutes. Given they have only four frontline bowlers in their XI, expect Little to come in as Impact Player when they bowl. But if they are in real trouble, they have the option of bringing in Wade as well.
For Knight Riders, I expect Venkatesh Iyer to come in and open with Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Ideally, an allrounder should be in your starting XI irrespective of whether you are batting first or bowling. The only reason I can think of Iyer missing out is that he might not be 100% in terms of bowling fitness.
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Titans bat; Hardik Pandya unwell
Hardik Pandya is unwell. In his absence, Rashid Khan is captaining Gujarat Titans, and has won the toss. Titans will be batting first. Knight Riders too wanted to bat; they were hoping their spinners to play a big role in the second half. Well, they will now have to make hay while the sun shines.
Vijay Shankar comes in for Hardik. Knight Riders have made two changes: Lockie Ferguson and N Jagadeesan come in for Tim Southee and Mandeep Singh.
This is the second time Rashid is captaining in the IPL. Last season too he had stood in for Hardik.
Here are the playing XIs:
Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Rashid Khan (capt), 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Yash Dayal, 11 Mohammed Shami
Substitutes: Josh Little, Jayant Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Matthew Wade, KS Bharat
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 2 Nitish Rana (capt), 3 N Jagadeesan, 4 Rinku Singh, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Shardul Thakur, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Lockie Ferguson, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Suyash Sharma, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
Substitutes: Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Vaibhav Sharma, Venkatesh Iyer, David Wiese
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Pitch advantage
As we noted in our team preview, Titans not only have the advantage of playing their home games at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with a possible 100,000 fans cheering for them, but can also pick from a variety of black and red-soil pitches. Given they have the bowling attack for all kinds of surfaces, they can choose what sort of pitch to play on depending on the opposition's strengths and weaknesses.
Lucknow Super Giants did something similar in their previous game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Sunrisers have a strong pace attack but they were served a slow, low, dying black-soil Ekana surface on which Super Giants spinners starved them of runs. Knight Riders rely a lot on Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy. Will Titans pick a red-soil pitch, more suited to seam bowlers? We will have to wait and watch.
Meanwhile, you can play ESPNcricinfo's first AR-based game - just aim and hit the stumps.
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Season 16. Episode 13
Hello and welcome to game 13 of IPL 2023. It's unbeaten Gujarat Titans taking on unpredictable Kolkata Knight Riders on the first game of today's double-header. Defending champions Titans have two wins in two games, beating Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener and Delhi Capitals earlier this week. Knight Riders lost their first game to Punjab Kings via DLS but bounced back from 89 for 5 to register an 81-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore. So, they will be carrying that confidence. Let's see if they can trump Titans today.
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