Ahmedabad, April 17 (IANS) Skipper Shubman Gill continued his knack of making a truckload of runs at Narendra Modi Stadium – this time by smashing a serene 86 to guide Gujarat Titans (GT) to a comfortable five-wicket victory over a struggling Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Ahmedabad on Friday.

While Gill’s 50-ball masterclass, laced with eight fours and four sixes coming at a strike-rate of 172, ensured GT’s dominance for the majority of the chase, it also condemned KKR to their sixth consecutive defeat in this season, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the table.

Though KKR fought hard and took the game deep, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan kept their head calm to complete the chase after a few nervy moments with two balls to spare and make it a hat-trick of victories for GT. KKR would be left ruing the lack of support from their batting group to Cameron Green, who finally came good by hitting a superb 79 off 55 balls.

Chasing 181, Gill was in sublime touch from the outset, unleashing a trademark exhibition of high-elbow drives, short-arm jabs, and delectable flicks. He found an able ally in B Sai Sudharsan (22), who smacked Anukul Roy for two majestic sixes, as GT raced to 50 in just 4.2 overs.

Though Sunil Narine broke the 71-run opening stand by dismissing Sudharsan, who top-edged to short fine leg, Jos Buttler joined in to keep the momentum going with a brisk 25 off 15 balls, before holing out to the deep on a googly from Varun Chakaravarthy, who got his first wicket of IPL 2026.

Despite Washington Sundar falling to Chakaravarthy, Gill reached his half-century off 27 deliveries and continued to hit a flurry of boundaries. He looked destined for making a hundred before a moment of brilliance by Cameron Green at deep backward point ended his stay. Gill’s dismissal triggered a slight wobble as KKR’s bowlers took the game into the final over.

With five runs needed off the final over, Ramandeep Singh removed Glenn Phillips (19) on the first ball to spark a glimmer of hope for KKR. But Tewatia and impact sub Shahrukh remained calm to seal the win for GT.

Brief scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders 180 all out 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 (Shubman Gill 86, Jos Buttler 25; Varun Chakaravarthy 2-34, Ramandeep Singh 1-5) by five wickets

–IANS

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