IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans' all-round show helps register victory by 39 runs over Kolkata Knight Riders

GT skipper Shubman Gill during his 90 in Kolkata yesterday. Pic/AFP

League leaders Gujarat Titans choked Kolkata Knight Riders' chase of 199 to send the defending champions to their fifth defeat in eight matches. While KKR plunged into doubt, the Titans took another step towards the play-offs.

Skipper Shubman Gill scored a 55-ball 90, while Sai Sudharsan (52 off 34) and Jos Buttler (41 not out off 23) made substantial contributions as the Titans, put into bat, scored a challenging 198-3. It was Sudharsan's fifth fifty this season.

KKR were 159-8 when the overs ran out - 39 runs short of the Titans total.

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Gurbaz goes early

Mohammed Siraj struck in the very first over, trapping wicketkeeper Rahmanullah Gurbaz to peg back the chase and pit skipper Ajinkya Rahane into his familiar role of getting the Knights going. The fall of Sunil Narine in the final over of the Powerplay as Rashid Khan was introduced and then a close call for new man Venkatesh Iyer in the leg-spinner's next over put the fear into the KKR camp and they never quite managed to catch up with the ever burgeoning asking rate.

Sai Sudharsan against KKR yesterday. Pic/PTI

Venkatesh scored 14 off 19. When Rahane was stumped for a 36-ball 50, Washington Sundar bowling wide off off-stump for Buttler to do the rest, Andre Russell raised hopes among KKR die-hards with a few big blows, but it was as brief as it has been this season. Stepping out of character, the burly Jamaican, who usually prefers swinging while rooted to the crease, was stumped off Rashid in the 16th over.

Rashid, Prasidh claim 2 each

Rashid and Prasidh Krishna would finish with identical figures of 4-0-25-2.

Earlier, GT openers Sudharsan and Gill put together 114 runs in 75 deliveries, punishing anything that was marginally off line or length. Sudharsan was off the blocks first but Gill, who began somewhat tentatively, was soon in his element as the two accelerated after the Powerplay had produced a modest 45. A feature of the partnership was the hard running between wickets. It needed the introduction of Russell in the 13th over to break the partnership. Russell used his shoulder to add that extra bounce for Sudharsan to edge to wicketkeeper Gurbaz, but Buttler walked in to spoil the over with boundaries to three different parts of the ground. Russell conceded 13 and wouldn't bowl again.

Buttler, who had scored a match-winning 97 against Delhi Capitals on Saturday, made the most of a couple of reprieves as he added 58 off 33 with Gill. Buttler was dropped by Vaibhav Arora at long-off off Harshit Rana when he was 17 before substitute fielder Manish Pandey failed to latch on to a difficult one at extra-cover when he was on 23.

Brief scores
GT 198-3 in 20 overs (S Gill 90, S Sudharsan 52, J Buttler 41'; A Russell 1-13) beat KKR 159-8 in 20 overs (A Rahane 50; R Khan 2-25, P Krishna 2-25) by 39 runs