Shubman Gill, the captain, rotated his tempo battery astutely and the quartet responded by tightening the noose round Kolkata Knight Riders at each ends of the innings. And Gill, the batter, was at his gorgeous-yet-glitzy finest, establishing Gujarat Titans’ comfy win towards a beleaguered opponent on the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.
Gill not solely notched up a hat-trick of fifties within the 2026 Indian Premier League however, extra importantly, ensured Titans accomplished a hat-trick of wins to strengthen its declare for a Playoffs berth.
Chasing 181 — a aggressive however removed from imposing goal given KKR’s depleted tempo sources and C.V. Varun’s dip in kind — Titans have been by no means underneath actual stress. Gill’s knock, laced with textbook precision and easy timing, meant the chase was all the time underneath management.
The tone was set early. The second Gill caressed a canopy drive off Vaibhav Arora within the opening over, it hinted at what was to observe. Whereas Gill unfurled strokes throughout the bottom, B. Sai Sudharsan added impetus, taking up Anukul Roy with a pair of sixes within the third over.
Even after Sudharsan fell to Sunil Narine’s off-spin, Jos Buttler ensured the PowerPlay ended on a brisk word, scoring 14 off the ultimate 5 deliveries. From there, Gill took cost, by no means permitting KKR to claw its method again.
There was a short second when Gill seemed set to complete the sport in type and maybe even push in the direction of a fifth IPL hundred. However Cameron Inexperienced’s acrobatic effort working in from deep third reduce brief that chance. By then, nonetheless, the job was all however completed. With 23 wanted off three overs, Glenn Phillips and Rahul Tewatia accomplished formalities with out fuss.
Earlier, Titans’ pacers had laid the muse for the win. Putting thrice within the PowerPlay to scale back KKR to 37 for 3, they dictated phrases early. At the same time as Inexperienced and Rovman Powell mounted a counterattack within the center overs, the Titans assault by no means misplaced management.
The dying overs sealed it. KKR managed simply 32 runs for 5 wickets within the final 5 overs, a collapse that ensured Inexperienced’s first substantial contribution of the season did little to change the result.
Printed on Apr 17, 2026