Gill's composed 86 helps team chase down 181; Green’s 79 goes in vain as victory eludes knights again

AHMEDABAD: Often bracketed among batters whose strike rates don’t align with the demands of modern-day T20 batting, Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill (86 off 50b; 8x4, 4x6) showed his ball-striking abilities to notch up a third consecutive half-century and help the hosts seal a five-wicket triumph over winless Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium here.

The pursuit of 181 began in a commanding fashion for the Titans, who raced to 71/1 by the end of the Powerplay. Gill and B Sai Sudharsan (22) went after left-arm spinner Anukul Roy in his first over, smashing three sixes, to put the Titans chase on track. Despite the loss of his fellow opener, Gill and Jos Buttler (25) took Gujarat to 93/1 after eight overs.

KKR applied the squeeze, forcing Buttler to hole out to Varun Chakaravarthy (2/34), while Washington Sundar (13) failed to get going. Despite Gill’s dismissal to an outstanding diving catch by Cameron Green giving KKR a glimmer of hope to pull off an upset, Glenn Phillips (19) and the rest of the batters took the Titans home with a ball to spare.\

Prior to this, Green reminded everyone of his white-ball pedigree with a composed yet forceful 79 off 55 balls, studded with seven fours and four sixes. Walking in with KKR in early trouble, the Australian allrounder first absorbed pressure and then took the attack back to Gujarat Titans, dragging his side to 180. The score was competitive but not quite what it could have been. Only three other KKR batters reached double figures — Tim Seifert (19), Rovman Powell (27) and Ramandeep Singh (17) — underlining how solitary Green’s effort really was.

KKR’s decision to bat first misfired almost immediately. Ajinkya Rahane fell first ball, caught by Kagiso Rabada off Mohammed Siraj. Angkrish Raghuvanshi soon followed for eight as Gujarat’s new-ball pair tightened the screws.

Seifert threat ened briefly with a couple of crisp boundaries but his 19 ended when he picked out Glenn Phillips off Rabada, leaving KKR 37/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

Siraj was superb when it came to his control and discipline, returning 2/23, while Rabada’s heavy lengths and late movement earned him 3/29 and complete command of the opening phase of the game.

The repair began when Powell joined Green. The West Indian briefly shifted momentum with two sixes in a brisk 27 off 20 before holing out to Ashok Sharma, but not before adding 55 for the fourth wicket with Green. From there, Green took over. He reached his fifty off 34 balls, then launched a decisive assault as KKR surged from 59/3 at the first strategic timeout to 147/5 by the second. Green and Anukul Roy added 60.