KKR vs GT, IPL 2023: Josh Little, Noor, Gill, Shankar take Gujarat Titans to top spot

39th Match, IPL: Gujarat Titans 180 for 3 (Vijay 51*, Gill 49, Miller 32*) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 179 for 7 (Gurbaz 81, Russell 34, Shami 3-33, Noor 2-21, Josh Little 2-25) by seven wickets

In place of Jason Roy, Rahmanullah Gurbaz scored 81 off 39 runs against his former team, Gujarat Titans. However, Kolkata Knight Riders only managed to score 179 runs, which the Titans overcame with 13 balls left, despite a scare in the middle overs.

Gurbaz was thrilling particularly in his takedown of Rashid Khan, who went for at least 50 for just the second time in the IPL, however the main help he got was from Andre Russell, who scored 34 off 19 at the passing. Noor Ahmad accounted for the Afghan presence with 4-0-21-2, including the wicket of Gurbaz, after Josh Little tied them down in the middle overs, resulting in wickets.

After two quick wickets in the middle overs threatened to turn this into a thriller, Shubman Gill, a former Knight Rider, set up the chase, which Vijay Shankar and David Miller finished off in style.

Shami with early strikes

The match began 45 minutes late due to a short shower. The Titans changed their minds and decided to bowl because of the thunderous rumble at the time of the toss. Mohammed Shami discovered seam movement as the pitch was spiced up. He bowled through the powerplay to dismiss N Jagadeesan and Shardul Thakur, who was promoted and is returning.

Gurbaz plays a different game

Indeed, even as the others battled to hit limits, Gurbaz middled nearly all that and continued to hit to where the defenders weren’t. He started with a pick-up pull on Hardik Pandya and then did a wristy pick-up six on him.

The attack on Rashid, a fellow citizen, may have been the most impressive, opening up space, selecting his variations, and striking him to the ground for 30 out of 11. He was unable to be slowed down by the middle overs.

Josh Little slows KKR down

Josh Little turned things around for the Titans after Rashid was taken for a lot. He just removed additional skip from hard lengths to baffle the hitters. His seventh and ninth overs, which went for just 10, went for 10. Toward the beginning of his third, Venkatesh Iyer felt obliged to play a low-rate shot, and was out lbw. In the equivalent over, Nitish Rana tracked down in reverse point with a cut.

This is the point at which the appearance of Rinku Singh, legend of the last match against Titans yet under a run a ball against turn in the IPL, dialed Knight Riders further back. Ultimately, Gurbaz tumbled to a Noor Ahmad full throw having got just 54 off 53 from the opposite end, including additional items.

Knight Riders were only kept in the game by a late burst from Russell, who admitted in an interview from the sidelines that they were 20 short.

Gill launches the chase

Gill’s bat made the ball sound like gunshots, giving the impression that the Knight Riders were much more than 20 runs behind. He didn’t even try to hit a six as he raced to 35 off 20 on the powerplay. He was dominant, scoring 44 of the first 70 runs, like Gurbaz.

KKR spinners refuse to go down

The Knight Riders spinners brought them back into the contest with some tight overs, not for the first time. Similarly as Hardik opened up, he got a peach from Harshit Rana, filling in for the injured Umesh Yadav. Having taken 10 balls to go from 40 to 49, Gill attempted to hit Sunil Narine for a six, however wound up giving him his most memorable wicket in six matches.

As Vijay and Miller absorbed some dots to make it 69 required off the final six, a grandstand finish appeared likely.

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— KolkataKnightRiders (@KKRiders) April 29, 2023

Don’t take it deep

Because early pursuits do not involve drama, the advantages of deep pursuits are frequently discussed. In the end, Miller and Vijay decided against absorbing three more overs of spin and waiting for some pace. Miller’s two sixes in the first match against Suyash Sharma sped up the return of pace. After hitting a six off Russell, Vijay got into the act, taking out his Tamil Nadu teammate Varun Chakravarthy with three sixes in the 17th over. Before you understood, he was raising his fifty in only 24 balls, and Titans were back on top of the table with six successes out of eight.