KOLKATA, India (AP) — The table-topping Gujarat Titans handed the defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders a 39-run drubbing in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Captain Shubman Gill made 90 off 55 balls and his opening partner Sai Sudharsan scored his fifth 50-plus score of the season with 52 in Gujarat’s challenging total of 198-3.
Kolkata was stifled for 159-8 by the Gujarat spinners and lost its third home game.
“It’s very difficult to have a perfect game,” Gill said. “But you have to find a way to win the game and that’s what we’re really good at.”
Kolkata’s chase was clipped early when Mohammed Siraj pinned Rahmanullah Gurbaz lbw for just 1 in the Afghan opener’s first game of the season, and Rashid Khan dismissed Sunil Narine off his third ball in the powerplay.
Kolkata captain Ajinkya Rahane resisted with a 36-ball 50 as the middle order struggled to accelerate against the spinners in Gujarat’s sixth win in eight games.
Venkatesh Iyer struggled for 19 balls to make 14. His slog sweep against Sai Kishore’s left-arm spin went straight to Washington Sundar at deep mid-wicket.
Rahane departed in the next over when he was stumped off Sundar’s wide ball and Kolkata’s chase was derailed at 91-4 in the 13th over.
Gujarat opening pair Gill and Sudharsan perfectly assessed the tricky surface with their occasional aggressiveness.
Gill, who lost the toss, missed out on a century but paced the innings nicely with left-hander Sudharsan. They combined for 114 runs then Jos Buttler hit a rampant unbeaten 41 off 23 balls with eight boundaries.
Gill and Sudharsan completed half-centuries in almost identical style, hitting a dozen boundaries and two sixes between them. Kolkata couldn’t separatem until the 13th over.
Sudharsan, taking 34 balls for his fifty, perished soon after when he cut Russell’s short ball and got a thin outside edge.
Gill’s 33-ball half-century included 29 runs off 12 balls. He was out swatting Vaibhav Arora’s low full toss to Rinku Singh in the outfield in the 18th over.
Buttler was dropped early but his late flurry closed out a stiff total.
“I thought 199 was chaseable, we came back into the game really well with the ball,” Rahane said. “You expect good opening starts but that’s what we’re struggling with.”
AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
