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 dropped chances, missed opportunities and fielders struggling in the heat, Rinku produced a reminder of what clean fielding can do in a T20 game. He took four catches in regulation time, each one arriving just as Lucknow Super Giants looked ready 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 beat Lucknow Super Giants in a tense Super Over finish, but by the time the game reached that point, Rinku had already left his mark all over it. He had rescued KKR with the bat, kept dragging them back into the contest in the field and, when the game came down to one final moment, was there again. LSG vs KKR: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
“I’ve always loved fielding since childhood. I’m naturally fit, so I can run fast and cover the ground well. I just enjoy fielding a lot,” Rinku said after the match, and it showed across every phase of the contest.
FOUR CATCHES BEFORE THE BIG ONE
Before the Super Over, Rinku had already put together one of the cleanest fielding displays of the season. The standout among his four catches in regulation time came when Aiden Markram was beginning to settle for Lucknow. Markram had started to build through the middle overs and was threatening to take control when he looked to go aerial against Cameron Green. He struck it cleanly, but not cleanly enough.
Rinku, stationed at long-off, judged the ball calmly near the rope. With both feet close to the boundary cushions, he held on, tossed the ball up as his momentum threatened to take him over, stepped out, returned in and completed the catch. It was a superb piece of boundary awareness and balance, the kind of catch that shifts a chase and gives the bowling side belief.
The other three catches were less spectacular, but no less important. Himmat Singh shuffled across and picked out Rinku at deep backward square leg just as Lucknow looked to force the pace. George Linde tried to clear long-on and found him there too. Mukul Choudhary followed, pulling straight to Rinku at deep midwicket. Different overs, different batters, same result. Whenever Lucknow searched for a release shot, they kept finding Rinku underneath it.
That was what made the spell stand out. One catch needed excellent judgement near the rope. The others demanded clean hands under pressure. None were put down, and in a format decided by small margins, that mattered as much as anything else.
THE CATCH THAT SEALED IT
Then came the fifth, and the one that mattered most. Lucknow had dragged the game into the season’s first Super Over and, with one clean strike, the pressure could have changed quickly. One wicket down, Lucknow needed a release shot. Powell was the batter for that moment, the one player capable of changing the over with a single swing.
He went for it, but could not get hold of the ball. It went high into the Lucknow night and seemed to hang long enough to test KKR’s awareness. Powell moved in, got his hands to it, but his momentum was taking him over the rope. In that split second, he did the only thing he could. He tossed the ball back into play and hoped someone would be there.
Rinku was.
“Honestly, I was not ready for that catch. I thought the ball would go somewhere else, but suddenly it came towards 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 fielders do not prepare for that second chance because most do not expect it to come. Rinku did not need to expect it. He was simply in the right place, switched on to the possibility and ready to react.
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 simplest of finishes.
SHAPING EVERY PHASE
That was what made this a complete performance. Before the catches, Rinku had already made 83 not out to drag KKR to 155 after another shaky outing with the bat. Without that innings, there was nothing to defend. Then came the fielding. Four catches in the chase, one more in the Super Over, five in all, and every one of them mattered.
Yes, Sunil Narine deserves enormous credit for the Super Over he bowled under immense pressure. But while Narine created the chance, Rinku made sure KKR took it.
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
– Ends
