Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy forged a gritty partnership on Sunday, April 19, at the iconic Eden Gardens to give the Kolkata Knight Riders their first win of the season. The three-time champions defeated the Rajasthan Royals by four wickets with two balls to spare.
Chasing a 156-run target on a sluggish track, the hosts were in dire straits, losing six wickets inside 14 overs, with just 85 runs on the board. Rinku, who was given a reprieve by Nandre Burger when he was batting on eight, stitched an unbeaten 76-run stand off 37 balls to take his team to victory.
In the last over, the Knights needed nine runs. Rinku hit Brijesh for two fours and a six to earn his team two crucial points, which helped them move up from the foot of the points table.
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lauded Rinku for his excellent knock under pressure. He also praised Anukul Roy for the brilliant six he hit off Jofra Archer’s bowling in the penultimate over of the match.
“Rinku Singh finally come to the party. Brilliant batting by him. Anukul Roy’s shot vs Jofra against near perfect Yorker was top class,” Irfan Pathan wrote on his official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle.
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156Rinku eventually finished unbeaten on 53 off 34 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes. On the other hand, Anukul remained not out on 29 off 16 balls.
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Earlier in the day, Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bat first. Rajasthan’s opening duo of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal batted well to forge an 81-run stand. However, the Knights’ spinners pulled things back in the middle overs, with Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine picking up three and two wickets, respectively. Kartik Tyagi also bagged a three-for, giving away just 22 runs in his four-over spell.
