Skipper Shubman Gill led the way with 86 off 50 balls as Gujarat Titans beat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in the IPL, consigning the three-time champions to a fifth loss in six games this season.
Gill hit a third straight half-century for the Titans, following up on 76 against Delhi Capitals and 50 against Lucknow SuperGiants in the previous two games. He now averages 59.52 in 27 T20s played at Ahmedabad.
Striking at 172, Gill hit four sixes and eight fours as Gujarat finished with 181-5 in reply to Kolkata’s 180.
Cameron Green –- the most expensive overseas player in IPL history –- overcame poor form to top scre in the Kolkata innings with 79 from 55 balls.
“The only thing that matters is winning,” said Gill.
“We would have liked to finish the game a couple of overs earlier.
“I was disappointed the way I got out. I wanted to be there till the end and finish it. Hopefully, I will be able to do that the next chance I get.”
Gill was full of praise for his two opening bowlers with Mohammed Siraj, who took 2-23, and Kagiso Rabada who finished with 3-29.
“The way Rabada and Siraj bowled, it looked as if they would pick up wickets every ball. Kolkata has a long batting line-up so it was important to keep taking wickets in the middle overs.”
Gujarat move to fourth in the table, their third win in five games giving them six points. Kolkata are tenth – and last – with five losses and a no-result in six games.
Chasing 181, Gujarat got off to a fine start – Gill and Sai Sudharsan (22) put on 57 in 31 balls for the first wicket.
Gill continued stitching vital partnerships – 38 with Jos Buttler, who scored 25, and 46 with Washington Sundar, who made 13.
Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy came on as an impact sub, and dismissed both Buttler and Sundar, picking up 2-34 in four overs.
The skipper scored 50 off 27 balls, his sixth at this venue where he also has four T20 hundreds.
Green took a superb catch to dismiss Gill three overs before the end, but the Titans were never in any bother chasing a sub-par score on a batter-friendly surface.
Green strikes
Earlier, Kolkata had struggled against the pace of Rabada and Siraj.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane was out for a golden duck to Siraj, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi made eight. Rabada also removed Tim Seifert for 14 – unable to use the width provided and offering a simple catch to fellow New Zealander Glenn Phillips.
For once, Green came good when Kolkata needed him.
They had bought the Australian for an eye-watering 25.20 crore ($3 million) in the 2025 auction, but he has struggled for form. He had three single-digit scores in the previous five games, with 32 not out against Lucknow his best score.
This time Green hit 50 off 34 balls – his first for Kolkata and third overall in IPL. He held the innings together, rebuilding from 32-3 and adding 55 with Rovman Powell who scored 27.
His key partnership came with Anukul Roy who only scored nine but helped put on 60 off 23 balls for the fifth wicket.
Kolkata, however, lost four wickets for 19 runs in another lower-middle order collapse, and despite Green’s best efforts, finished with a sub-200 score.
Source: Khaleej Times