Gill, Sudharsan help Titans stay top of IPL
Gujarat Titans consolidated their lead at the Indian Premier League summit, after easing to a 39-run victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens.
Shubman Gill stole the show with an impressive 90 runs from 55 deliveries, before Rashid Khan and Prasidh Krishna did the damage with the ball in hand for the Titans.
Gujarat, however, started slowly in the powerplay, scoring just 45 runs, the second lowest in the season's IPL without losing a wicket, but they eventually found their groove.
Gill began to attack before letting Sai Sudharsan (52) take over as they both approached their fifties in a 114-run stand, only for the latter to fall in the 13th over to Andre Russell.
But Jos Buttler helped the Titans maintain their momentum, even as the KKR bowlers - especially Harshit Rana - tried to extract some purchase from the surface in Kolkata.
The Kolkata spinners were denied a wicket and went for 96 runs in their 11 overs, but Gill's fine innings came to an end late on when he was dismissed by Vaibhav Arora (1-44).
Gill smashed 29 runs from the last 12 balls he faced, but Buttler helped the Titans to 198-3, with the visitors continuing their fine display in the early stages with the ball.
Our Prince in Kolkata pic.twitter.com/QibO0crMfP
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 21, 2025
Rahmanullah Gurbaz (one) was caught lbw inside the first over by Mohammed Siraj, with Sunil Narine (17) following shortly after as KKR looked to regain some control.
That came in the form of Ajinkya Rahane, who notched 50 runs from 36 deliveries as the middle order continued to tumble in their pursuit of the Titans' batting score.
Venkatesh Iyer (14), Rinku Singh (17), Russell (21), Ramandeep Singh (one) and Moeen Ali (duck) all fell in quick succession, but Angkrish Rahuvanshi's cameo offered hope.
Rahuvanshi plundered 27 runs from 13 deliveries, which included three fours and one maximum, but it was not enough as KKR came up short in their chase.
Kolkata sit seventh in the IPL standings after seven games of their season, with this defeat their fifth of the campaign so far.
Data Debrief: Sudharsan leads the way for Orange Cap
While Gill will take the plaudits for his excellent innings, Sudharsan continued to prove why he is one of the most exciting batters in this season's IPL.
The 23-year-old was the first player to reach the 400-run mark in the competition, and is currently 49 ahead of Lucknow Super Giants' Nicholas Pooran.
Krishna is also doing the business in his pursuit of the Purple Cap. He took his tally to 16 wickets for the season, and leads the way by four.