What they said
"Always felt @rashidkhan_19 was a good spinner but now I wouldn't hesitate in saying he is the best spinner in the world in this format. Mind you, he's got some batting skills as well. Great guy."
Sachin Tendulkar lavishes praise on Rashid Khan
All-star of the match
Striking with the bat: check. Striking with the ball: check. Excelling in the field: check. Having Sachin Tendulkar call him the best spinner in T20 cricket: check. Rashid Khan produced one of the greatest all-round performances, if not the greatest, to turn the tables on Kolkata Knight Riders and put Sunrisers Hyderabad in the final.
When Rashid came into bat, Sunrisers were 134 for 6 with 13 balls left in their innings. Rashid faced 10 of those balls and smashed 34 off them, including four sixes and two fours. It just wasn't wild slogging, though. Rashid, who had started his career as a frontline batsman, picked the slower balls of Shivam Mavi and Prasidh Krishna, maintained a strong base, and nailed them to the boundary like a frontline batsman would. Just like that, Sunrisers zoomed to 174 for 7. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn then threatened to reduce Rashid's cameo to a mere footnote by helping Kolkata Knight Riders take 67 runs in the Powerplay.
Rashid, however, tore up the chase with three wickets, including that of Chris Lynn and Andre Russell. He also ran out Nitish Rana, who was promoted to No.3 to counter the legspinner with his left-handedness. Rashid topped it off with the catches of Shubman Gill and Mavi in the last over. Such a perfect game is a rarity even in fantasy cricket.
The wow moment
Thirty-four runs off 10 balls with the bat. Three for 19 with the ball. A rocket throw to effect a run-out. Two pressure catches in the deep. How do you pick the best of the lot? Okay, let's go with the killer flick that would have done Viv Richards proud. Even before Krishna bowled a full ball on off, Rashid jumped across off and then deep in the crease to pick it up and launch it over the square leg boundary with some flourish.
The numbers
Rashid's smart contribution with the bat was 21.09 and with the ball was -7.35
He is one of the four players to have scored 30-plus runs, picked up at least three wickets and taken two catches in an IPL game. Ben Stokes, JP Duminy and Ravindra Jadeja are the others.