Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], April 21 (ANI): Shubman Gill’s captain knock and Jos Buttler’s swashbuckling display at the end lifted Gujarat Titans (GT) to 198/3 against the defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the iconic Eden Gardens on Monday.
After being put to bat by the Knight Riders, GT’s opening pair started steadily by negating the impending threat from Vaibhav Arora and Moeen Ali. Gujarat found its first boundary of the match on the 12th delivery after Sudharsan went on the back foot and cut the ball hard to find the fence for a four.
With Gill taking his time at the other end to adjust to the conditions, Sudharsan, with his refined shots, picked up two boundaries in the next over to increase the run flow. The GT skipper, who stood unbeaten at 6(11) after the fourth over, had finally understood what was on offer and showed signs of opening his arms in his former home against his former side.
He hammered Harshit Rana for back-to-back fours and then welcomed mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy with a boundary as GT ended the powerplay with 45/0. Right after the powerplay, Gill unleashed a brutal onslaught on Moeen Ali.
With a strike clean as a whistle, Gill danced down the track and walloped the ball over deep midwicket for a 78m six. He topped it up with back-to-back boundaries to increase the run flow. Sudharsan joined the action and flaunted his boundary-hitting muscle in the next couple of overs.
In the 11th over, Gill pushed the ball away for a single to reach his third fifty of the tournament, while Sudharsan, with aplomb, cleared the fence on the next ball for a maximum and then sprinted for a double to celebrate his fifth half-century of the season.
As GT decided to go full throttle in the second half of the first innings, Kolkata found the breakthrough. Andre Russell hit the deck hard and generated extra bounce to outwit Sudharsan and lure out a faint edge to Gurbaz behind the stumps, ending the sizzling 114-run opening stand.
Jos Buttler came in and went all guns blazing by slamming a hat-trick of fours to take away 13 from Russell’s over despite the loss of a wicket. Buttle continued to deal with boundaries while Gill pushed for a century.
With GT’s innings heading towards its climax, Gill broke the shackles and blazed his way to the three-digit figures. He top-edged the ball away for a maximum and then followed it up by placing the ball in the open space for a four in the 18th over, adding to Vaibhab’s woes.
However, Vaibhab bounced back, and a low full toss did the trick. Gill sent it flat towards deep midwicket, and Rinku Singh came in to take a stunning catch to end Gill’s blitzkrieg on 90(56).
Rahul Tewatia failed to live up to his reputation of playing a flashy cameo. Jos Buttler (41*) and Shahrukh Khan (11*) combined to take away 18 runs from the final over to propel GT to 198/3. (ANI)
