Kolkata: Shubman Gill led the front line with his 55-goal 90 to help Gujarat Titans hammer holder Kolkata Knight Riders run 39 times on Monday and cemented their top spot in the IPL.
Gujarat hit 52-year-old Sai Sudharsan with a 198-3 record, and Gill made 114 runs to hit the Eden Gardens in Kolkata for the first wicket.
The bowlers merger then limited Kolkata to 159-8, while Captain Ajinkya Rahane hit a lonely hand with 50 to register Gujarat for his sixth victory in eight matches.
Kolkata won his third title in the popular T20 Championship last year, falling to his fifth defeat in eight games.
The batsman won for Gujarat, with England’s Jos Buttler hitting an unbeaten 41 in 23 balls after the opening booth between Sudharsan and Gill.
Gill’s players were asked about one of their top three finishes ending in most games, and we never talked about one of us having to stay until the end. ”
“We’re just talking about how to score under these conditions and how to dig into the game.”
Gill was on his guard from the start, but left-handed Sudharsan ran into some boundaries to make Gujarat invited to hit the ball first.
Gill took over with Moeen Ali with a six-of-sixth four-pointer in the second spell of the former England spinner and soon reached the third half of the season.
The formal Sudharsan improved his fifth 50-plus points in this edition as he ran over 400 times to push Lucknow Super Giants batsman Nicholas Pooran (368) as the leading batsman.
Buttler ranked third with 356 runs in his eight innings.
