Rashid Khan is 24 years old, just 24 years old, with a lot of cricket left ahead of him. This is important to state because his performance in the sport has been absolutely magnificent. Bowling looks to come to him in the most natural form possible. The recent TATA IPL 2023 match only strengthens this statement. At Narendra Modi Stadium, the Gujarat Titans locked horns with the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 9, 2023.
Since the game was being played in GT’s own backyard, the home team had a good chance of winning. Hardik Pandya switched captaincy with Rashid Khan. KKR clinched the victory by chasing 205 with zero balls remaining.
Now, Rashid Khan is a player who has come under the spotlight for taking a hat trick in the 17th over. While it did not exactly help them win the match, it brought out what Rashid is capable of doing: keeping his team alive in a competitive environment.
He dismissed Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, and Shardul Thakur with the first delivery, not allowing them to bat. Rashid has just completed the inaugural hat trick of the TATA IPL 2023. His final bowling score was 4–0–37–3. The first three overs of his innings yielded 35 runs, after which he returned to give up 2 runs and take three consecutive wickets. KKR were 155/4 in 16 overs.
This marks the fourth hat trick for the leg spinner in T20s. He is followed by Andre Russell, Amit Mishra, Mohammad Sami, Andrew Tye, and Imran Tahir. Other bowlers to have registered a hat-trick against KKR are Pravin Tambe, Makhaya Ntini, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Rashid now has a hat-trick in international T20s, along with the IPL, Big Bash League, and Caribbean Premier League.
This performance almost put KKR in the backseat since they were chasing a target of over 200 runs. Losing three consecutive wickets took GT closer to the win they needed to climb up the leaderboard of the league. However, the final over brought the best out of KKR, whose Rinku Singh replicated almost what Yuvraj Singh once did for team India: consecutive sixes.
The series began with the second delivery of the final over, which Yash Dayal bowled. With Umesh Yadav on strike for 19.1 overs, it was easy to presume that the target would be missed. He managed to run for a single, giving Rinku a strike, who then proceeded to hit in-the-air shots.
KKR was 176 for 7 wickets at the end of the 19th over. Tables turned, and KKR emerged victorious. They are now in the second position in the leaderboard, and GT has slipped down to the 4th position with 2 wins + 1 loss and an NRR of +0.431.
TATA IPL 2023 will next see the match between RCB and LSG. A total of 70 league events are scheduled to happen through May 21, 2023. One can be a part of the action by choosing to showcase their knowledge. Get insights on how to bet on cricket, use the knowledge, and demonstrate perfection for the sport.
Stick around because the Mumbai Indians are looking for a win, and it could come against the Delhi Capitals on April 11, 2023, in the TATA IPL 2023.
