Shubman Gill stars against old team as Gujarat Titans wrap up dominant 39-run win to extend lead
Gujarat Titans wrapped up a 39-run victory over KKR at the Eden Gardens, Shubman Gill’s 90(55) the key innings as they head to 12 points in a fantastic season thus far.
Gujarat Titans continue to establish themselves as one of the best teams in this year’s IPL, winning their sixth game as they brushed aside Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan kept their form rolling with a 114-run partnership, Gill going on to score 90(55).
Buttler’s late flurry saw them finish on 198-3, a score maybe 15-20 above par on a pretty difficult track. In response, KKR’s chase never quite going, early wickets and relentless pressure through the middle overs meaning they very quickly had too much to do. Rashid Khan took two, Prasidh Krishna took two, and ultimately only Ajinkya Rahane had a score of note as KKR fell 39 runs short.
Gujarat Titans keep their train rolling after a win that saw them reach the top of the IPL 2025 table. Next, this terrific GT unit visits Kolkata, where they are set to face a Kolkata Knight Riders team suffering in the aftermath of a humiliating failure to chase down 112, the lowest failed total in the long history of the IPL.
Eden Gardens will host this match between two teams at polarisingly different points in terms of confidence and momentum, with GT looking to extend their lead at the top and KKR currently stuttering in a season where they have alternated between wins and losses.
What that does mean, though, is KKR are due a win after their last match loss. They have had nearly a week to recover from that debacle, and playing once again at home while GT have a quick turnaround from their own home match in Ahmedabad will give them a meagre advantage.
KKR haven’t played this season out as if they are defending champions: they have struggled with the bat and shuffled around their bowling, without ever finding the perfect combination. They quickly need to figure out what sort of team most maximises their strengths and covers for their weaknesses, which so far have been found and hammered at by opposition teams.
GT are quite the opposite: while their strengths and weaknesses are easy to point out, they have been impossible thus far to exploit. The form of Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler has been such that GT have been on a roll through all the matches, one or both ensuring that they see through their batting innings.
Add to this a bowling unit that is firing on all cylinders and covering all bases in terms of different phases of the innings, and this feels like a team that is quite difficult to put away. They will have plenty of confidence from their performance against Delhi Capitals, in which they were clinical on all fronts as they put away another one of the stronger teams. Does KKR have the kind of firepower and cross-team consistency that can challenge that?
KKR are due a really big result, something they haven’t managed quite yet. As much as anything, it is about making the top order click to a level that will help the middle order capitalise and produce the kind of performances that took them to the title last year. It’s a tall ask against this excellent GT bowling unit, but it’s do-or-die time in the IPL. If not now, then never for KKR.
Highlights from Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans 2025
● Ajinkya Rahane wins the toss and opts to bowl first
● Quinton de Kock dropped for Rahmanullah Gurbaz
● Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill watchful to start
● 45-0 in powerplay
● Openers reach 50 in the space of deliveries, bring up century partnership
● Andre Russell strikes to remove Sai Sudharsan
● Gill, Buttler accelerate with big overs
●Gill dismissed on 90(55) just short of century
●18-run final over to take GT to 198-3
●Siraj strikes in first over of chase, Gurbaz out LBW