Ahmedabad: Captain Shubman Gill guided Gujarat Titans (GT) to reach the fourth position in the points table of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 as he scored 86 runs in their 5-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday night. This was GT’s third win in 5 matches while KKR remained in the bottom place after 6 matches.
Chasing 181 runs to win, GT openers started well and added 57 runs in 5 overs before Sai Sudharsan (22) was claimed by Sunil Narine. Jos Buttler played an attacking innings of 25 runs off 15 balls. He put on 38 runs with Gill. Washington Sundar made run-a-ball 13. Gill went back in the 17th over after scoring 86 runs from 50 balls with 4 sixes. Glenn Phillips and Rahul Tewatia took the game to the final over. Phillips (19) was caught in the deep when they needed 4 runs from 5 balls. They reached the target with 2 balls to go.
Earlier, a superb recovery led by Cameron Green’s 79 off 55 balls was undone by a dramatic late-order collapse as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were bowled out for 180 in their 20 overs.
Despite Green’s fine knock, laced with seven fours and four sixes, KKR lost their last six wickets for just 33 runs in the final phase of the innings. Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers for GT, returning figures of 3-33, while Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna played vital roles in stifling the KKR batters, though Ashok Sharma and Rashid Khan were expensive.
Pushed into bowling first after KKR elected to bat, Siraj struck in the very first over as skipper Ajinkya Rahane skewed an outswinger to mid-on and fell for a golden duck. Rabada then doubled the misery in the second over by having Angkrish Raghuvanshi nick behind to the keeper. When Tim Seifert (12) slapped a short delivery from Siraj straight to point, KKR were reeling at 32/3 in four overs.
KKR’s recovery was initially sparked by Rovman Powell, who hit a cameo of 27 off 20 balls, including two massive sixes, shifting the pressure back onto the GT bowlers. His 55-run stand with Green, who timed the ball really well, steadied the ship before Ashok Sharma deceived him with a 107kph slower ball.
Green, who was struggling on 27 off 29 balls at one stage, suddenly found his groove in the 12th over by launching Rashid for a six and a four. He took a particular liking to the spinners, scoring 33 off just 18 balls against them. His 60-run partnership off 23 balls with Anukul Roy saw KKR gallop from 87/4 to 139/4 in the space of three overs.
However, the dismissal of Roy (9) by Prasidh Krishna in the 15th over triggered a sensational slide. Rinku Singh’s poor run continued as he fell to Rabada, while Ramandeep Singh (17) holed out after a brief flurry of boundaries.
In a bizarre final stretch, Green, who had reached 75 off 44 balls, became a virtual spectator at the non-striker’s end as wickets tumbled, with the seam-bowling all-rounder facing only two of them during that sequence.
Green managed only four runs off his final 11 deliveries before being caught behind off the last ball of the innings off Rashid. From a position where 200 looked certain, KKR finished with 180 - a total that looks below par on a pitch favouring good strokeplay.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 180 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 79, Rovman Powell 27; Kagiso Rabada 3-29, Mohammed Siraj 2-23) lost to Gujarat Titans 181/5 in 19.4 overs (Subhman Gill 86, Jos Buttler 25, Sai Sudharsan 22, Glenn Phillips 19, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/34). Agencies
Also Read: Stuttgart Open: Karolína Muchová Downs Coco Gauff to Seal Semifinal Spot