Cricket Highlights, 9 April: IPL 2023 (Match 13) – Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders  

Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders (Match 13) – Highlights

In the thirteenth IPL game, Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders faced off in Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium (April 9). In the final ball of the innings, Kolkata took an incredible 3-wicket victory while chasing the 205 runs that Gujarat had scored in that thrilling game. Moreover, Rinku Singh’s outstanding batting earned him the title of Man of the Match.

Returning to the match’s exciting plot, Rashid Khan stole the show by claiming a hat-trick in the 17th over of the second innings. In the Gujarat Titans’ camp, there were indications of victory. But with striking consecutive sixes in the final five balls of the final over, Rinku Singh handed Kolkata Knight Riders an improbable victory.

Gujarat’s batting brought about the start of this amazing match. His batsmen demonstrated why Rashid Khan chose to bat after winning the toss. Particularly with the help of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudarshan, and Vijay Shankar, the previous champion Gujarat Titans set a lofty 205-run mark in front of Kolkata Knight Riders.

Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill established an opening partnership of 33 runs in the beginning. With the help of three fours, Wriddhiman Saha was out after scoring 17 runs in 17 balls. Shubman Gill then contributed to the team’s 100 runs by scoring 39 runs off 31 balls with the help of five fours.

With three boundaries and two sixes, Sai Sudarshan scored 53 runs in 38 balls. Vijay Shankar, though, was the greatest storm. He batted just 24 balls in his 63-run inning. Hit 4 boundaries and 5 sixes. In addition, Abhinav Shankar took 14 runs off 8 balls. In the end, Gujarat Titans scored 204 runs despite losing 4 wickets and adding 16 extra runs. 

For Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunil Narine took 3 wickets for 33 runs in 4 overs. Besides, Suyash Sharma claimed one wicket.

In reply, Kolkata lost two wickets Gurbaz (15 off 12) and N Jagdeesan (6 off 8) at the team’s 28 runs. Nitish Rana departed the field having amassed 45 runs off 29 balls, including 4 fours and 3 sixes. Then the Gujarat spinners were assaulted by the impact cricketer Venkatesh Iyer, who had just come down for the second wicket. Up until the fourth ball of the game’s 16th over, he controlled the situation.

To win, KKR needed 51 runs from 26 balls. However, after 15.5 overs, Venkatesh was caught out by Shubman Gill. With 83 runs off 40 balls and 8 fours and 5 sixes, his innings were over. The contest proved easy for the Riders despite Venkatesh’s absence thanks to Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, and Sunil Narine.

Rashid Khan, however, used his whirlwind magic in the 17th over to completely change the course of the game. A hat trick was recovered from Russell, Narine, and Shardul with three straight balls. The Afghan spinner had just achieved his first IPL hat trick. He took the field as captain in Hardik Pandya’s absence, however, he failed in his first three attempts with the ball. He took nothing in the first three overs, surrendering 35 runs. Nonetheless, he managed to take 3 wickets in his final over of the game for just 2 runs.

Gujarat supporters would have thought that their team was headed for a third straight victory following Rashid’s spectacular over. Yet perhaps no one could have predicted the drama that would unfold in the final over. As Kolkata needed 29 runs from 6 balls to win in the final over, Rinku Singh showed his magic. Umesh Yadav strikes Rinku with one run off Yash Dayal’s first ball.

The batter then changed the course of history. He smashed five consecutive sixes, giving Yash a night of nightmares. As a result with 3 wickets, Kolkata prevailed and Gujarat had to quit the field with a loss having 204 runs.

Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders Scoreboard 

Gujarat Titans – 204/4 (20.0)

Kolkata Knight Riders – 207/7 (20.0)   

Result – Kolkata Knight Riders won by 3 wickets 

Player of the match – Rinku Singh  

Rashid Khan

Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XIs