Catches win matches is one of cricket’s oldest sayings and under the floodlights in Lucknow on Sunday night, Rinku Singh showed exactly why it still holds true.
A day after the tournament saw missed chances, missed opportunities and issues from fielders in the heat, Rinku was reminded of what a clean field can do in a T20 game. He took four catches in regulation time, each arriving just as Lucknow Super Giants looked set to take control. Then came the fifth, the one in the Super Over, the one that removed Rovman Powell and all but ended the contest.
Kolkata Knight Riders eventually defeated Lucknow Super Giants in a tense finish to the Super Over, but by the time the game reached that point, Rinku had already left his mark on it. He saved KKR with the bat, kept pulling them back into the match in the field and when the game came down to the last moment, he was there again. LSG vs KKR: MAIN | SCORECARD
“I’ve always loved fielding since childhood. I’m naturally fit so I can run fast and cover ground well. I just enjoy fielding a lot,” Rinku said after the match and it showed in every phase of the competition.
FOUR CATCHES BEFORE THE BIG ONE
Before the Super Over, Rinku had already put together one of the cleanest displays of the season. Among his four regular season catches came when Aiden Markram settled for Lucknow. Markram started to make his way through the middle overs and threatened to take control as he looked to rise against Cameron Green. He hit it cleanly, but not cleanly enough.
Standing at long range, Rinku assessed the ball calmly near the rope. With both feet close to the boundary pads, he held on, threw the ball up as his momentum threatened to take over, stepped out, came back and completed the catch. It was a brilliant piece of boundary awareness and balance, the kind of catch that moves the chase along and gives belief to the bowling side.
The next three catches were less spectacular, but no less important. Himmat Singh swooped in and caught Rinka at deep backward square leg just as Lucknow looked to force the pace. George Linde had been trying to clean up for a long time and found him there too. Mukul Choudhary followed and pulled straight to Rinku at deep mid-wicket. Different overs, different batters, same result. Whenever Lucknow looked for a shot, they found Rinka underneath.
That was what made the magic stand out. One catch required excellent judgment near the rope. Others demanded clean hands under pressure. None were put away and in a format decided by small margins, that mattered as much as anything else.
THE BOY WHO BAKED IT
Then came the fifth and the one that mattered the most. Lucknow dragged the match into the first Super Over of the season and with one clean hit, the pressure could quickly turn. One wicket down, Lucknow needed to fire. Powell was that batsman at that point, the only player who could bowl a single swing.
He went for it but couldn’t catch the ball. It went high into the Lucknow night and seemed to hang on long enough to test KKR’s consciousness. Powell moved in, took it by the arms, but his momentum carried him over the top rope. In that split second, he did the only thing he could. He threw the ball back into play and hoped someone would be there.
They went was
“Honestly, I wasn’t ready for that catch. I thought the ball was going somewhere else, but suddenly it came to me and I managed to catch it,” he said later.
That one line explained the moment well enough. It was instinct, awareness and readiness all at once. Most outfielders don’t prepare for that second chance because most don’t expect it to come. Rinku didn’t have to wait for that. He was simply in the right place, turned on to the possibility and ready to respond.
Once Powell was dismissed, Lucknow’s Super Over lost its only real source of momentum. They finished with just one run and two wickets, the lowest Super Over score in IPL history, leaving KKR with the easiest finish.
SHAPING EACH PHASE
That was what made it a complete performance. Before being caught, Rinku had already made 83 to drag KKR to 155 after another shaky outing with the bat. Without this shift, there was nothing to defend. Then came the field. Four catches in the chase, one more in the Super Over, five in total and every one of them mattered.
Yes, Sunil Narine deserves huge credit for the Super Over he bowled under immense pressure. But while Narine created the chance, Rinku made sure KKR capitalized on it.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
27 Apr 2026 07:40 IST
