IPL 2023: Gautam Gambhir praises 'SENSATIONAL' Rinku Singh for almost taking KKR home vs LSG

Lucknow Super Giants managed to beat Kolkata Knight Riders to secure a playoff berth but not before KKR's Rinku Singh gave them a scare. Needing 41 to win in the last two overs, KKR scored 39 off them, mostly by Rinku but fell short by one run.

The effort killed any doubts left about Rinku's ability as a batsman who finished at 67 not out off 33 balls in the match. Such was the dominance of his performance that even LSG mentor Gautam Gambhir could not stop himself from praising the young batsman.

What did Gambhir say?

After the match got over, Gambhir, from his official Twitter handle, tweeted, "What an effort by Rinku today! Sensational talent!," along with a photo where he can be seen chatting with Rinku Singh, KKR skipper Nitish Rana and young spinner Suyash Sharma. While KKR, despite the win, wouldn't have qualified for the playoffs, Rinku's fighting spirit made everyone stand and applaud. Have a look at Gamhir's tweet here:

Rinku's masterclass which almost took KKR home

Chasing 177, KKR looked comfortable when the openers were batting but wickets at regular intervals left 21 to chase from the last over with Rinku on non-strike. Vaibhav Arora took a single on the first ball, but Rinku couldn't connect on the first two balls he faced. Thanks to two wide balls by bowler Yash Thakur, KKR needed 18 of the last three balls.

Rinku smashed the fourth ball for a six, keeping the hopes of yet another miraculous finish alive, but the fifth ball fetched only a four and KKR lost by one run despite the KKR star hitting a six on the last ball.

Rinku's season in a nutshell

The Southpaw was clearly KKR's best batsman as he scored his 474 runs at an average of 59 and a strike rate of 149. He was the team's highest run-scorer this season and KKR skipper Nitish Rana showered all the praises he could on the batsman. "Feels like all 14 matches, I've spoken about Rinku. I am personally very happy for him (Rinku) and I don't really have words to describe him because the entire world has seen what he can do on a cricket field," said Rana at the post-match presentation.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE