Kolkata,April 22 (HS): In the 39th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Gujarat Titans secured their dominance at the top by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 39 runs. Gujarat scored 198 runs for the loss of three wickets in 20 overs, thanks to half-centuries from Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, while KKR managed only 159 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their 20 overs.

KKR did not have a good start in chasing the target and lost the wicket of opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz early. After that, Ajinkya Rahane stabilized the innings with Sunil Narine, but Narine was dismissed after scoring 17 runs. Rahane continued to play well, but he lacked support from any other batsman at the other end. The inability to form significant partnerships was a major reason for KKR's loss. For KKR, apart from Rahane (50 runs off 36 balls), Andre Russell scored 21, Rinku Singh made 17, Venkatesh Iyer contributed 14, and Ramandeep Singh added one run. Meanwhile, impact player Angkrish Raghvanshi played an unbeaten innings of 27 runs, while Harshit Rana remained not out with just one run.

For Gujarat Titans, Prasidh Krishna and Rashid Khan took two wickets each, while Mohammad Siraj, Ishant Sharma, Washington Sundar, and Sai Kishore each claimed one wicket.

Earlier, while batting, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan gave Gujarat a superb start by adding 114 runs for the first wicket. Gill reached his half-century in 34 balls, while Sudharsan completed his in 33 balls. This was Sudharsan's fifth fifty and Gill's third of the season. The partnership between Gill and Sudharsan was broken by Andre Russell. Sudharsan scored 52 runs off 36 balls with six fours and one six. Then, Jos Buttler came to the crease and, along with Gill, accelerated Gujarat's innings. Gill continued his aggressive batting but missed out on a century, scoring the highest of 90 runs off 55 balls with the help of 10 fours and three sixes. During this period, Gill and Buttler shared a second-wicket partnership of 58 runs. For Gujarat, Buttler scored 41 runs off 23 balls, and Shah Rukh Khan added 11 runs off five balls.

For Kolkata, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, and Andre Russell each took one wicket.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar