Gujarat Titans registered a 7-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in match 39 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. GT captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first after having a good look at the overcast conditions. The match did have a delayed start owing to rain but no overs were lost and once the match commenced it continued interrupted.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz was the top-scorer for KKR and played one of the finest knocks this season. He was playing in place of Jason Roy who complained of back spasm but did not let the team miss the English star's absence. He scored 81 off 39 balls. However, the other Kolkata batters could not quite bat at the same tempo and it was really the finishing touches by Andre Russell (34 off 19) that gave some momentum to the Kolkata innings and helped them finish at 179/7 in their 20 overs.
In response, Gujarat got off to a good start with a couple of solid partnerships first one worth 41 runs between Wriddhiman Saha and Impact Player Shubman Gill and the second worth 50 betweeen Hardik Pandya and Gill. However, things took an interesting turn when both the batters departed in successive overs. However, two master finishers Vijay Shankar and David Miller helped Gujarat finish off the chase with over two overs to spare.
The equation had started to become tricky which is when Shankar, in particular, put his foot on the pedal. Ultimately, he remained unbeaten on 51 off 24 as GT won the match with 13 balls to spare. David Miller, who scored 32 off 18, was also impressice playing the finisher's role to perfection.
Gujarat's Josh Little, who picked up 2 for 25, was ajdudged the Player of The Match. Noor Ahmad (2 for 21) and Mohammed Shami (3 for 33) were the other wicket takers for Gujarat. For KKR, Russell produced the breakthrough inside the powerplay after his cameo with the bat to finish with figures of 1 for 29. Sunil Narine (1/24) and Harshit Rana (1/25) were the other Kolkata bowlers amongst wickets.