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The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets in a nerve-wracking last-ball thriller last night. It was a match where one witnessed several top-notch performances from players, amongst which Rinku Singh's heroics with the bat immortalized his name in IPL cricket history.
At the Narendra Modi Stadium, GT decided to bat first and posted a mighty total of 204/4 at the end of their 20 overs. This massive showing from the home side was largely owed to the half-centuries scored by Sai Sudarshan (53 runs off 38 balls) and Vijay Shankar (63 runs off 24 balls). On a day when all the other bowlers were taken to the cleaners, wily old fox Sunil Narine gave away just 33 runs and picked up three wickets in his four overs.
In reply, KKR issued a strong response and were cruising at 154/3 when Venkatesh Iyer was dismissed after a sparkling half-century (83 off 40 balls). Following this, Rashid Khan, the stand-in skipper, picked up a hat-trick that many thought would be match-winning.
Khan dismissed the dangerous trio of Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and Shardul Thakur. With 28 runs needed from the last five balls, it seemed all but over for KKR. However, Rinku Singh had other plans as he smashed five consecutive sixes off the bowling of Yash Dayal in an unimaginable display of breathtaking strokeplay.
One can only feel sorry for Rashid Khan who ended up on the losing side despite picking up a hat-trick.
On that note, let us discuss three instances when a captain has picked up a hat-trick in the IPL.
#1 Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2009
Yuvraj Singh captained Kings XI Punjab in the 2008 and 2009 seasons of the IPL. With the tournament being played in South Africa, hopes were high for him owing to his spectacular run in the 2007 T20 World Cup held in the country. In a match against RCB, Singh picked up a hat-trick, dismissing world-class batters such as Robin Uthappa, Jacques Kallis, and Mark Boucher.
While Uthappa was caught in the deep, Kallis was bowled and Boucher was struck plump in front for an LBW in the first ball of his next over. Singh returned to score a half-century with the bat. However, it turned out to be a heartbreak for him as his side lost in the end by eight runs.
#2 Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab) vs Deccan Chargers, 2009
Yuvraj Singh struck yet again in the same season against the Deccan Chargers. Yet again Singh dismissed the top batters of the opposing team as he dismissed Herschelle Gibbs on the last ball of his second over. In his next over, he picked up the wickets of Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao to record his second hat-trick of the wicket. This time, Kings XI Punjab emerged victorious with a thrilling one-run win.
#3 Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2014
Shane Watson was the captain of the Rajasthan Royals in the 2014 season. Shane Watson picked up Shikhar Dhawan in the last ball of the fourth over. In the 17th over, he dismissed Moises Henriques and Karn Sharma in the first two balls. His effort went in vain as his side lost by 32 runs in the end.
