Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill admits that it is tough to have a perfect game in T20 format. On Monday, his team did not have a perfect game, but it was near that as they batted and bowled well to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 39 runs in Match 39 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Eden Gardens.
In this format, it's very difficult to have a perfect game, like even today maybe 10 more runs if I had stayed there. But still, you have to find a way to win the game and that's what we're really good at. Very pleased. The talk for us earlier was that these two matches (vs KKR and the next one against Rajasthan Royals) were going to decide where we stand on the table, so very happy with how they went.
Gujarat Titans, who are placed on the top of the table, played a top-level game as they opened a two-point lead at the top with a perfect performance.
Asked to bat first, captain Gill struck an excellent 90 off 55 balls and shared a 114-run opening partnership with B. Sai Sudharsan, who hit 52 off 36 balls and became the tournament’s new leading run-getter, helped Gujarat Titans post a challenging 198/3 in 20 overs. Jos Buttler provided the finishing touch with an unbeaten 41 off 23 balls.
Gill admitted that there was no discussion that either he or Sai Sudharsan would bat till the end and help the team post a challenging total.
There is no such conversation (between me and Sai Sudharsan that one of us has to stay till the end), we want to play our best game, and score as many runs, we never say that one of us has to stay in the end. We just want to bat deep. We were ahead in the game, but it's important to close the game. Good teams close the game very well.
Though initially it was felt that GT's score was not big enough and could be chased, their bowlers came up with a relentless line and length to thwart Kolkata Knight Riders. Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan claimed two wickets each which proved decisive as Gujarat Titans scored a comprehensive win, their sixth of the season to move to 12 points in the points table.
Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Ajinkya Rahane waged a lone battle with 50 off 36 balls (5x4, 1x6) but the other star batters Venkatesh Iyer (14), Rinku Singh (17), Andre Russell (21), and Sunil Narine (17) could not manage to capitalise on their starts as the hosts fell to another defeat. Angkrish Raghuvanshi contributed an unbeaten 27 but that too went in vain.
Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan finished with identical figures of 2-25 as Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, and Sai Kishore all finished with one wicket each as all bowlers used by Gill were successful.
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 198/3 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 90, B Sai Sudharsan 52, Jos Buttler 41 not out; Andre Russell 1-13) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 159/8 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 50, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 27 not out; Prasidh Krishna 2-25, Rashid Khan 2-25) by 39 runs.
