KOLKATA, APRIL 18, 2026: Gujarat Titans (GT) composedly chased down 180 to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 5 wickets (with 2 balls left). Shubman Gill’s classy 86 anchored Gujarat Titans to a convincing victory and secured their 3rd consecutive win of the season, while KKR’s winless streak extended to six matches, in the 25th match of the Indian Premier League 2026 season on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
The match began with KKR won the toss and elected to bat first. With a new change in the opening, Finn Allen was replaced by Tim Seifert, and Ajinkya Rahane came down to open. However, in the very first over, Mohammed Siraj delivered a clinical spell with the new ball and quickly dismissed Rahane for a golden duck. In the next few overs, Kagiso Rabada took two crucial wickets of Angkrish Raghuvanshi (8 off 4 balls) and Tim Seifert (19 off 14 balls). The collapse of the top order of KKR ended the powerplay at 37/3. In a high-pressure situation, KKR needed to build a partnership, which was efficiently executed by Cameron Green and Rovman Powell. Cameron Green played an indispensable knock of 79 off 55 balls, with 7 fours and 4 sixes, which shifted the momentum completely for KKR and propelled the score to 140 in 15 overs. Although he stayed at the crease with some luck, missing an LBW and surviving a dropped catch by Washington Sundar. Rovman Powell contributed 27 off 20 balls before getting out to B. Ashok Sharma. Anukul Roy came in and helped build a small partnership with Green but got out after scoring 9 off 7 balls, dismissed by Prasidh Krishna. After Roy’s wicket, the GT bowlers came back strongly and destroyed the rest of the batting order in the slog overs. With quick dismissals of Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, the score, which seemed like it could cross 200, failed to reach there. Green was dismissed by Rashid Khan in 19.6 overs, and KKR were bowled out for 180.
Again, GT showcased their brilliant bowling, especially Mohammed Siraj and Rabada. Siraj took 2 wickets in 4 overs, giving only 23 runs with an economy of 5.75, and Rabada also took 3 wickets, conceding 29 runs in 4 overs with an economy of 7.25.
The run chase of 181 started with skipper Shubman Gill along with Sai Sudharsan. They started the innings with a fierce attack on the KKR bowlers. In the final over of the powerplay, Sunil Narine broke the partnership by dismissing Sudharsan for 22 off 16 balls, with GT finishing the powerplay strongly at 71/1. Jos Buttler came in to bat and played terrifically, scoring 25 off 15 balls before being dismissed by Varun Chakravarthy, and with this wicket, he registered his first wicket of the season. After the powerplay, wickets started falling for GT, which made the match more crucial and took it to the final over. The spin duo of KKR, Varun and Narine, performed well—Varun took 2 wickets giving 34 runs, and Narine took 1 wicket conceding 28 runs in their 4 overs. Gill played a sensational skipper’s knock of 86 off 50 balls, with 4 fours, and continued the chase brilliantly. His excellent and rapid fifty came up in just 27 balls. By the time he was dismissed in the 17th over by a brilliant catch from Cameron Green, GT needed only 23 runs to win. In the final over, when 6 runs were needed off 6 balls, Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan ensured the win, taking GT to 181 with 2 balls left. Gill played a crucial role in chasing down the score.
With this victory, GT climbed to the 4th position on the table with 6 points, while KKR are still stuck at the bottom. Once again, the batting order collapse of KKR created trouble. The next match of GT will be against Mumbai Indians on 20th April. On the other side, KKR will face Rajasthan Royals on 19th April. It will be interesting to see whether GT can hold this positive momentum in the next matches of the league, and after this difficult situation, how KKR will try to bounce back.
