Vijay Shankar stepped up at the right time to smash a blazing 51 off just 24 balls to lead Gujarat Titans to the top of the IPL 2023 points table with a seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
At 98/3 in 12 overs, Gujarat were in trouble and chasing 180 seemed far-fetched. But for a team that has carved a reputation for acing chases, Shankar slammed two fours and five sixes while sharing a decisive match-winning partnership of 87 runs in just 6.3 overs with David Miller, who was unbeaten on 32, to win with 13 balls to spare.
With the required run-rate around 12, Miller began by cutting Varun Chakaravarthy through extra cover for four, followed by smacking Suyash Sharma for clean sixes over long-off and long-on. Shankar then cut Suyash through point as 18 runs came off the 15th over.
Miller got a life at 26 when Suyash dropped his catch at third man off Russell and Shankar added more salt to the wound by hoicking a six over deep mid-wicket. Shankar came into his own when he pummeled Chakaravarthy for three fantastic sixes -- off two slog-sweep and a mighty pull to take 24 runs off the 17th over.
Shankar swept Nitish Rana through square leg for four and brought up his fifty in 24 balls with a powerful six swept over the deep backward square leg before a wide helped them complete the chase with 13 balls to spare.
Chasing 180, Shubman Gill was timing the ball so exquisitely while dealing in fours that kept the crowd quiet. When Andre Russell offered width, he stood tall to slap through extra cover and then followed it up with a smack over the bowler's head.
His drive through the gap at cover off Harshit Rana was elegant, so as cut past point and cut past cover-point in the third over. After Wriddhiman Saha fell, toe-ending a drag to mid-wicket, Gill swept Chakaravarthy and then pulled off Suyash to collect two fours.
Though the spinners kept things tight, Hardik Pandya thumped Suyash down the ground for four and launched Sunil Narine over deep mid-wicket for six. The crowd found its voice back when Harshit found some inward movement to trap Hardik plumb lbw and Gill toe-ended a loft to long-on off Narine in successive overs. But Shankar and Miller opened up at the right time to ace another chase for Gujarat.
Kolkata Were Put Into Bat First
Earlier, a scintillating fifty from Rahmanullah Gurbaz followed by finishing fireworks from Andre Russell carried Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to a respectable 179/7.
With the rest of the batters not contributing much, Gurbaz stood up to enthral the spectators with 39-ball 81, laced with five fours and seven sixes. Russell, the birthday boy, smashed a 19-ball 34, with two fours and three sixes, to take Kolkata to a competitive total. For Gujarat, Mohammed Shami was impressive in picking three wickets while Noor Ahmad and Joshua Little were excellent in taking two wickets each.
After a wet outfield due to rain caused a delay of 45 minutes at the start of play, N. Jagadeesan gave Kolkata a fast start with his 15-ball 19. Apart from two nice cuts through backward point off Shami and Hardik Pandya, Jagadeesan had luck on his side by getting fours twice off thick outside edges.
Jagadeesan departed in the third over when he tried to walk across and flick off Shami, but missed the ball completely and was trapped lbw. Kolkata's move to promote Shardul Thakur to number three backfired when he fell for a four-back duck, with mid-on running backwards and taking a sensational catch over his shoulder.
Gurbaz ensured Kolkata weren't missing Jason Roy's explosiveness, using his supple wrists and shuffling well to time a brace of sixes against Hardik, before smashing a four and six off Shami, followed by slogging a six and four off Rashid as Kolkata ended power-play at 61/2.
Gurbaz then used Josh Little's pace to glide in the gap between backward point and short third-man for four, followed by lofting Rashid over extra cover for the same result to reach a scintillating fifty off just 27 balls.
But Gujarat bounced back in the 11th over, as Little trapped Venkatesh Iyer lbw while going for a ramp, followed by having Nitish Rana cut straight to the backward point. Gurbaz continued to be positive in his stroke play, clearing long-off and long-on easily for a six each off Noor and Hardik.
After Rinku Singh welcomed Mohit Sharma with a six over the long-leg fence, Gurbaz smacked Rashid down the ground for another maximum, followed by whipping him through deep mid-wicket for four more. But his blitzkrieg came to an end in the 16th over after holing out to deep mid-wicket off a full toss from Noor.
Though Rinku holed out to long-on off Noor, Russell smacked Rashid for two leg-side sixes. He then thumped Noor for a powerful drive down the ground for four.
After David Wiese dispatched Little over long-on for six, Russell hammered Shami over long-on for six and got a top-edge on slog for four, before slicing to deep point on the last ball of the innings.
(With inputs from IANS)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)