The Gujarat Titans continued their impressive IPL run with a dominant 39-run win over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, tightening their grip at the top of the table.
Skipper Shubman Gill led from the front with a classy 90 off 55 deliveries, while Sai Sudharsan extended his dream season with another fifty — his fifth — scoring 52. Their 114-run opening stand laid the platform for Gujarat’s imposing total of 198-3.
Despite chasing at a venue known for high scores, Kolkata never really found their footing and limped to 159-8, suffering their third home defeat of the campaign.
“It’s hard to have a flawless performance,” said Gill after the match. “But finding a way to win is something we’ve mastered.”
Kolkata batters struggle
Kolkata’s chase was clipped early when Mohammed Siraj pinned Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw for just 1 in the Afghan opener's first game of the season, and Rashid Khan dismissed Sunil Narine off his third ball in the powerplay.
Kolkata captain Ajinkya Rahane resisted with a 36-ball 50 as the middle order struggled to accelerate against the spinners in Gujarat’s sixth win in eight games.
Venkatesh Iyer struggled for 19 balls to make 14. His slog sweep against Sai Kishore’s left-arm spin went straight to Washington Sundar at deep mid-wicket.
Rahane departed in the next over when he was stumped off Sundar’s wide ball and Kolkata's chase was derailed at 91-4 in the 13th over.
Dominant Gujarat top order
Gujarat opening pair Gill and Sudharsan perfectly assessed the tricky surface with their occasional aggressiveness.
Gill, who lost the toss, missed out on a century but paced the innings nicely with left-hander Sudharsan. They combined for 114 runs then Jos Buttler hit a rampant unbeaten 41 off 23 balls with eight boundaries.
Gill and Sudharsan completed half-centuries in almost identical style, hitting a dozen boundaries and two sixes between them. Kolkata couldn’t separatem until the 13th over.
Sudharsan, taking 34 balls for his fifty, perished soon after when he cut Russell’s short ball and got a thin outside edge.
Gill's 33-ball half-century included 29 runs off 12 balls. He was out swatting Vaibhav Arora’s low full toss to Rinku Singh in the outfield in the 18th over.
Buttler was dropped early but his late flurry closed out a stiff total.
“I thought 199 was chaseable, we came back into the game really well with the ball,” Rahane said. “You expect good opening starts but that’s what we’re struggling with.”