New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) Former India spinner Piyush Chawla credited Shubman Gill’s composed knock for tilting Gujarat Titans’ clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders decisively, while also pointing out the AJinkya Rahane-led team’s failure to capitalise at the death as the turning point in the game.

Gill’s fluent 86 powered GT to a five-wicket win at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday. He anchored the 181-run chase with authority and control, helping his side clinch their third consecutive victory.

“We all know what Shubman Gill is capable of. When he is on song, he is such a pleasing batter to watch. In this knock of 86, Gill played only cricketing shots. He made sure he put the KKR bowling attack on the back foot just by playing those normal cricketing shots. He played on the merit of the ball, hardly taking any risks. He just made sure that everything pitched in his area went out of the park. That is the beauty of his batting. He is technically so good that you will never see him fall short of runs,” Chawla told JioStar.

Gill’s innings ensured GT stayed ahead for most of the chase, even as KKR managed to drag the contest into the final over before Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan calmly finished the job. Chawla, however, felt KKR had let the match slip earlier despite a strong platform set by Cameron Green, who top-scored with 79.

“KKR looked like they were going to cross the 200-run mark easily after scoring 139 at the end of 14 overs, thanks to Cameron Green’s brilliant batting. After losing three wickets in the Powerplay, the way they came back in the middle overs was magnificent to watch. Since the beginning of IPL 2026, we have been talking about the middle phase being a problem for KKR.

“But in Ahmedabad, they turned things around and batted beautifully. However, when it came to making the bowlers pay in the death overs, KKR batters did not apply themselves at all and kept throwing their wickets. It is not that their batters got out to magical deliveries from GT bowlers. It was poor shot selection,” Chawla stated.

KKR eventually finished on 180 after losing six wickets for just 33 runs in the final phase, a collapse that allowed Gujarat Titans’ bowlers to pull things back and keep the target within reach.

–IANS

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