'Rinku Singh Told Me if the Ball Beats You..': Andre Russell Reveals Chat With KKR Teammate Before Dramatic Win | WATCH

Andre Russell revealed that Rinku Singh had asked his Kolkata Knight Riders teammate to go for a run with two runs needed in the last two balls against Punjab Kings. Rinku wanted a single to level the scores, although Russell missed Arshdeep Singh’s ball and was run out on the non-striker’s end, thus taking the equation to 2 runs needed off the last delivery.

Rinku was on strike for the last ball and he smashed a boundary towards deep backward square leg with a flicked effort to pull away another crucial win for KKR in a pressure situation, almost turning back the clock to his five-straight sixes against Gujarat Titans earlier in IPL 2023 season.

In his post-match interview, Russell revealed that Rinku had asked Russell for a single, meaning he wanted the strike in the last ball. As fate would have it, the Caribbean couldn’t complete the single on the penultimate ball of the over but Rinku got the strike nonetheless to get KKR over the line and keep his side alive in the IPL 2023 playoffs race.

Highlights KKR vs PBKS, IPL 2023: Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Rinku Star in Kolkata’s Thrilling Five-wicket Win

“I wanted to finish the game off, but we have a finisher this year in Rinku," said Russell.

“He had told me what if the ball beats you, should we go for the run? I said for sure, I have faith in him to finish it last ball. I get goosebumps seeing him doing what he’s been doing," Russell added.

He stated added, “I have company at the back end, he soaks the pressure off and he’s been here for years now, a really hard-working guy. He’s very funny outside the field, I try to stay as close to him while we are training."

Earlier, Nitish Rana had smashed a fifty, while Russell scored 42 runs, and Rinku himself scored 21 in 10 balls to help KKR reach 182/5, in reply to Punjab’s 179/7.

Courtesy of their victory over Punjab, Kolkata jumped to fifth place in IPL 2023 points table becoming just the latest team to reach ten points, they are level with Rajasthan Royals on points but Sanju Samson’s side are in the top four courtesy of their superior net run rate.

Get the latest Cricket News, IPL 2023 Live Score, Orange Cap and Purple Cap holder details here