There was no anti-climax in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) second encounter of the season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Defending champions did not let the game slip away and chased down the target with seven wickets in hand and 13 balls to spare. Vijay Shankar unleashed himself in slog overs with support from David Miller at the end as GT reached the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 points table with a convincing win at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
GT's run chase got off to an ideal start. In the third over, Shubman Gill tok on Harshit Rana and smashed him for four consecutive fours. Andre Russell got the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha in the fifth over. Saha scored run-a-ball 10. After powerplay overs, GT were 52/1. Skipper Pandya joined Gill in the middle. He hit timely boundaries and kept the required run rate in check. In the 11th over, Rana returned to the attack and got Pandya lbw as he played across the line. He scored 26 runs from 20 balls including two fours and one six.
In the next over, Gill missed his half-century by just one run. Sunil Narine got the big wicket as he lured him into a big shot. The opener scored 49 runs from 35 balls including eight fours. David Miller and Shankar took their time. Miller decided to take on Suyash Sharma hitting him for two sixes. In the next over, Russell was able to deceive Miller with hard length but Suyash put down the catch. He was batting on 26 then. In the same over, Shankar hit Russell for a six.
In the 17th over, Shankar pushed KKR out of the game as he hit Varun Chakaravarthy for three sixes. KKR's mystery spinner ended up conceding 24 runs from the over. Skipper Rana decided to take matter in his own hands. Shankar hit him for a four and a six to reach his second half-century of the season from just 24 balls. Titans won the game by seven wickets with 13 balls to spare. Shankar's unbeaten 24-ball 51 was studded with two fours and five sixes. On the other end, Miller scored 32 runs from 18 balls including two fours and as many sixes.
Earlier, Pandya won the toss and opted to field first. Narayan Jagadeesan got off to a good start with three fours off Pandya's first over. Mohammed Shami drew first blood with the wicket of Jagadeesan. He scored 19 runs from 15 balls. Rahmanullah Gurbaz used Pandya's pace and hit him for two sixes. He took on Shami as well and made his intentions clear. Shardul Thakur was promoted up the order but the ploy did not work. He got out for a four-ball duck. Gurbaz did not spare his countryman Rashid Khan and hit him for a six and a four in the sixth over. KKR were 61/2 after powerplay overs.
Gurbaz got to his half-century from 27 deliveries in the ninth over. At halfway stage, KKR were 84/2. In his third over, Ireland pacer Joshua Little struck twice. First, he trapped Venkatesh Iyer in front of the stumps. Iyer scored 11 runs from 14 balls. Skipper Rana hit a boundary but played one straight to backward point fielder Rahul Tewatia. Gurbaz continued to attack and hit Noor Ahmad and Pandya for one six each. After playing few dot deliveries, Rinku Singh joined the party with a six off Mohit Sharma. Rashid was expensive once again as he conceded 17 runs from his third over. Noor got the big wicket of Gurbaz in the 16th over. He scored 81 runs from just 39 balls including five fours and seven sixes.
Rashid continued and had to face the wrath of birthday boy Russell. He smacked two sixes in the 17th over. In the 18th over, Rinku threw his wicket away. He scored 19 runs from 20 bals. Noor conceded 21 runs from his quota of four overs and picked up two wickets. Little bowled a good penultimate over barring the massive six off David Wiese' bat. Shami bowled the final over and was hit for a six and a four by Russell. The Caribbean all-rounder got off the final ball of the innings. His 19-ball 34 helped KKR post 179/7.
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