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Winning the toss and opting to bowl, KKR struggled to make early inroads as Gill and Sudharsan capitalised on a placid pitch and some cautious field placements. The pair brought up their respective fifties in style — Gill’s third of the season came off 34 balls, while Sudharsan notched up his fifth in six matches with a 33-ball effort. Their 114-run partnership set a perfect platform, with calculated aggression and excellent strike rotation.
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KKR tried multiple bowling combinations, using four different bowlers in the powerplay, including spinners Moeen Ali and Varun Chakravarthy, but couldn’t break through. However, Andre Russell got the breakthrough in the 13th over, dismissing Sudharsan with a rising delivery.
Gill seemed destined for a century but fell short by 10 runs, miscuing a swat-flick to Rinku Singh at deep square leg. His innings featured 10 fours and three sixes, showcasing timing and placement over power.
Coming in next, Jos Buttler continued his rich vein of form. Though he didn’t hit any sixes, he remained unbeaten on 41 off 23, peppering the field with eight boundaries, including three in a single over off Russell.
GT’s innings lost some momentum in the last five overs, scoring just 59 runs, largely due to the discipline shown by KKR’s spinners. Chakravarthy, in particular, delivered a miserly 14th over conceding only three runs. The Titans’ reluctance to go aerial — only five lofted shots all innings — reflected KKR’s grip in the second half.
Despite a dropped catch from Vaibhav Arora that gave Buttler an early life, KKR will hope their bowling discipline carries into the chase.
Playing XIs:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (w), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (w), Sherfane Rutherford, Rahul Tewatia, Washington Sundar, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
