Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill got out at 90 against KKR at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, 21 April 2025.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
Captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharshan spelt their class to score excellent half-centuries as Gujarat Titans accumulated 198 in its Indian Premier League contest against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens here on Monday (April 21, 2025).
Even as the ball stopped a bit, the right-left opening pair’s century stand set the stage for GT, asked to bat, to log a challenging total.
With Vaibhav Arora bowling nice and tidy and Moeen Ali providing good support with the new ball, KKR did not let GT openers gain much ground in the Powerplay.
Gill and Sudharshan adopted a risk-free approach and rotated the strike. However, they did not shy away from punishing the six deliveries that had slightest of width to gather 45 in the first six overs.
Interestingly, GT accelerated after the Powerplay. Gill (90, 55b, 10×4, 3×6) asserted his class in the seventh, plundering 17 runs off Moeen. The GT captain stepped out to hammer a six over mid-wicket, executed a classy late cut and displayed a wristy pull from outside the off-stump for fours in consecutive deliveries.
On his former home ground, Gill, who took 12 balls to get first boundary, was a treat to watch when in full flow. He was equally amazing with his cuts as he was with his pulls or cross-batted punches on either side.
Sudharshan (52, 36b, 6×4, 1×6), who had shown his range finding gaps spectacularly on the off-side, also collected runs on the onside including a superb pull off Sunil Narine to the square-leg boundary and a stunning six off Harshit Rana over find-leg.
Notwithstanding the humid conditions, the GT openers’ hard running between the wicket frustrated the host even more. The two achieved their fifties to put up a 75-ball 114-run partnership.
For KKR, Andre Russell provided the breakthrough in his only over as wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz caught Sudharshan.
Gill gathered 58 off 33 balls with a clean-hitting Jos Buttler (41 n.o., 23b, 8×4), who was dropped twice, before being caught well on the onside off Vaibhav.
Even as KKR bowlers applied some brakes, GT managed to garner 47 in the last four overs.
The scores:
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharshan c Gurbaz b Russell 52 (36b, 6×4, 1×6), Shubman Gill c Rinku b Vaibhav 90 (55b, 10×4, 3×6), Jos Buttler (not out) 41 (23b, 8×4), Rahul Tewatia c Ramandeep b Harshit 0 (2b), Shahrukh Khan (not out) 11 (5b, 1×6); Extras (nb-1, w-3): 4; Total (for for three wkts. in 20 overs): 198.
Fall of wickets: 1-114 (Sudharshan, 12.2), 2-172 (Gill, 17.5), 3-177 (Tewatia, 18.3).
KKR bowling: Vaibhav 4-0-44-1, Moeen 3-0-27-0, Harshit 4-0-45-1, Varun 4-0-33-0, Narine 4-0-36-0, Russell 1-0-13-1.
Published – April 21, 2025 09:33 pm IST