Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) took on the Ajinkya Rahane-led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 39th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.
Gujarat Titans won against Kolkata Knight Riders by 39 runs at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Monday, April 21.
Also Read: Ajinkya Rahane openly blames Sunil Narine for KKR’s IPL 2025 struggles
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Very pleased to get these two wins back to back – Shubman Gill
GT were invited to bat first in the match and their top 3 batters once again shined. Shubman Gill slammed 90 runs while Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler chipped in with 52 and 41 runs, respectively, helping the Titans post 198/3 on the board.
Defending the total, Gujarat Titans bowlers once again did a fantastic job. All six bowlers – Mohammed Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Prasidh Krishna, Rashid Khan, Washington Sundar, and Sai Kishore – picked at least one wicket each to restrict KKR to 159/8.
Speaking after winning the Player of the Match award, Shubman Gill said that he is very pleased with the back-to-back wins over DC and KKR. He said:
“Very pleased. We spoke about these two matches – that they’re going to decide where we stand on the table. Very pleased to get these two wins back to back. We just want to play our best game whenever we’re out there.”
We never talk about that one of us has to stay till the end – Shubman Gill
GT are heavily dependent on their top 3 in the batting order, and Shubman Gill revealed that they never talk about one of the top 3 batters staying in the middle till the end. He said:
“We never talk about that one of us has to stay till the end. We just talk about how we can score runs in these conditions and how to take the game deep. We were ahead in the game, but it’s one thing to be ahead and another to close the game.”
While talking about his animated celebration after Venkatesh Iyer’s wicket, Gill said that he just showed some emotions. He added that they are yet to play a perfect game in IPL 2025. He said:
“So that was just some of my emotions coming out (talking about his animated celebration after Venky Iyer’s wicket). In this format, it’s difficult to have a perfect game. There will always be some areas. Like today as well – we could’ve got 10 runs more had I stayed there. And a couple of unforced errors in the bowling. But the main thing is even if you’re not playing the perfect game, you’ve to find a way to win, and that’s what we’re really good at.”
How did GT perform in their previous completed IPL match against KKR?
The previous match between the Gujarat Titans and the Kolkata Knight Riders was washed out. Talking about the game before that, GT displayed a commanding performance against KKR at Eden Gardens on April 29, 2023, to bag a seven-wicket win with 13 balls remaining in the 39th match of IPL 2023.
Opting to bowl first, Mohammed Shami dismissed Narayan Jagadeesan and Shardul Thakur inside the powerplay. While Rahmanullah Gurbaz attacked with a 39-ball 81, the rest of the KKR batting lineup flopped badly.
Pacer Josh Little bowled a brilliant spell (4-0-25-2) in the middle overs, and Noor Ahmad (2/21) supported the pacers really well. Despite Andre Russell’s late fireworks, KKR were restricted to 179/7, which was a below-par total, by GT.
Chasing the target, Shubman Gill scored 49 off 35 balls to keep the momentum towards his side early on in the innings. Then, Wriddhiman Saha and Hardik Pandya also got out alongside Gill, allowing KKR to stage a small comeback.
However, Vijay Shankar unleashed a brutal attack and smashed 24-ball 51*, while David Miller blasted 32* off 18 balls as the run-chase was completed in 17.5 overs.
