In the last over, Rinku Singh needed to score 28 runs in five balls

Since 2008, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen teams overcome impossible situations to secure wins. Be it bowlers defending a game in the last over or down-order batters scoring big runs in the last over to steal the game, IPL has witnessed some of the most miraculous victories in the history of the T20 format.

On this day, i.e., April 9 in 2023, one such incident occurred during the match between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Gujarat Titans. The Riders needed 28 runs in five balls to win the game. Facing Yash Dayal, Rinku Singh scored five consecutive sixes in the last over and scripted a miraculous victory.

Vijay Shankar’s late surge to 204

A blistering knock of 63* runs in 24 balls from Vijay Shankar has put Gujarat Titans in the driver's seat against Kolkata Knight Riders.

📸: IPL/BCCI#IPL2023 #GTvsKKR #VijayShankar pic.twitter.com/dgzV8WHnee

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) April 9, 2023

Batting first, the Gujarat Titans were at 153/4 in the 17.3 overs, and the Kolkata bowlers had done a decent job controlling the tempo of the game. Although Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan had scored 39 and 53 runs, respectively, the two had a strike rate of less than 150, and even the other batters had struggled with runs and strike rates until Vijay Shankar gave a late push to the Titans.

At a strike rate of 262.50, Shankar scored 63 runs in 24 balls and helped the Titans post a target of 204 runs for the Riders to chase.

7 for 155

Rashid Khan grabs the first hattrick of IPL 2023 🔥

📸:- Jio Cinema#RashidKhan #GTvKKR #IPL2023 #insidesports #crickettwitter pic.twitter.com/hxRKmToOLj

— InsideSport (@InsideSportIND) April 9, 2023

The Riders got off to a poor start, with only 21 runs coming from the openers. However, Venkatesh Iyer scored 83 runs off 40 balls, whereas Nitish Rana added 45 runs off 29 balls. Unfortunately, it felt like the end for the Riders when, in the 16th over, Rashid Khan took a hat-trick by dismissing Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur. He reduced the team to 7 for 155 runs by 16.3 overs, leaving the Riders requiring 49 runs.

Rinku Singh’s last stand

While wickets were falling on the other end, Singh was slowly creating an innings while rotating the strike between himself and Umesh Yadav. In the last over, Yadav had faced one ball, but another rotation in strike gave Rinku Singh the remaining five balls with 28 runs required on the board.

28 req off last 5 balls and Rinku Singh hit 5 consecutive sixes to win the match against Gujarat Titans.

Have you seen a better finish in IPL than this one? pic.twitter.com/Dr9n6ViU35

— Cricketopia (@CricketopiaCom) April 6, 2026

Whether it was luck or Singh’s skill, Yash Dayal completely lost his composure as he threw three full-toss deliveries to Rinku, who sent the ball over the boundary at long-off, then over deep-backwards square leg, followed by another over long-off. The fourth delivery witnessed Singh hitting another six long on, and finally, in the fifth ball, Singh hit one over his head and ran towards his teammate even before the ball had landed outside the boundary.

For a moment, all the fielders of the Gujarat Titans froze because none could believe the events that unfolded from one man’s bat and put them in a miserable position. Fortunately, the season saw Gujarat finish at the top, whereas the Riders finished seventh.