Kolkata: Skipper Shubman Gill’s elegant 90 off 55 balls on a challenging Eden Gardens pitch was complemented well by a disciplined bowling from Gujarat Titans as defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders succumbed to a 39-run loss in an IPL match here on Monday.
Gill’s innings, adorned with 10 fours and three sixes, along with Sai Sudharsan’s 36-ball 52, his fifth fifty in six matches, that made him the first player this season to surpass 400 runs to reclaim the Orange Cap, laid the foundation for GT’s total of 198 for 3 after KKR opted to bowl on tacky track.
The total, which was well calculated and strategised by GT, proved more than enough as GT bowlers led brilliantly by Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna’s identical figures of 2/25 restricted KKR to 159 for 8.
It was yet another low for the defending champions after their horror show of 95 all out while chasing 112 in the last match as their batting looked woefully out of depth and succumbed to their third defeat in four matches at home, and fifth overall from eight games.
For GT, this victory marked their sixth win in eight matches, consolidating their position at the top of the IPL standings with 12 points, two clear of Delhi Capitals.
KKR’s chase faltered early as Mohammed Siraj removed Rahmanullah Gurbaz for 1 in the opening over.
