Chasing 180 for victory, Gujarat were in trouble at 93-3 when Shankar (51) and the left-handed Miller (32) combined
to achieve victory with 13 balls
to spare. Bowlers Mohamed Shami, Josh Little and Noor Ahmad set up victory after they kept down Kolkata to 179-7 despite a sparkling 81 by Rahmanullah Gurbaz in a match which started 45 minutes late due to rain and wet outfield.
In the chase, skipper Hardik Pandya fell for 26 and Shubman Gill departed on 49 when Miller, who survived a dropped catch on 26, took on the bowlers with a couple of sixes. Shankar, an Indian all-rounder, soon took over from his South African partner in their unbeaten stand of 87 with a six-hitting blitz as he reached his fifty in 24 balls.
Gujarat, who had a fairytale debut season when they clinched the Indian Premier League title last year, moved top of the 10-team table with six wins in eight matches. Two-time champions Kolkata, led by Nitish Rana, stay seventh with six losses in nine matches. Regular wickets hurt Kolkata’s chances of getting to a bigger total as they fell to 88-4, but Gurbaz, who made the team in place of injured England batsman Jason Roy, held firm.
Afghanistan’s Gurbaz smashed seven sixes in his attacking knock and put on 47 for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh before he fell to Ahmad’s wily left-arm wrist spin.
Kolkata slipped again after Gurbaz’s departure but Andre Russell took on the opposition attack in his 19-ball 34 despite disciplined bowling from Shami, Little and Ahmad in the final five overs. Little, a left-arm quick from Ireland, was named man of the match for his figures of 2-25.
BRIEF SCORES
KKR 179 for 7 (Gurbaz 81, Russell 34, Shami 3-33, Noor 2-21, Little 2-25) lost to Gujarat Titans 180 for 3 (Vijay 51*, Gill 49, Miller 32*) by 7 wickets.
Hyderabad beat DeLhi
Sunrisers Hyderabad overcame a sparkling all-round performance by Mitchell Marsh to down Delhi Capitals by nine runs yesterday. South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen hit an unbeaten 53 to steer Hyderabad to 197-6, a total their bowlers defended by restricting Delhi to 188-6 at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground. Marsh returned bowling figures of 4-27 including a maiden over and then hit a 39-ball 63 but the effort was not enough for bottom-placed Delhi, who fell to their sixth loss in eight matches.Hyderabad, who won their only title in 2016 under current Delhi skipper David Warner, bounced back from their three losses to move up one spot to eighth. Warner fell for a two-ball duck but Delhi’s chase looked good during a 112-run second-wicket partnership between Phil Salt, who made 59, and Marsh.
Hyderabad hit back with three wickets in three overs through their spinners and once Salt and Marsh departed the chase lost track. Batsmen set up victory after left-hand opener Abhishek Sharma smashed 67 off 36 balls ed to bat first. Klaasen struck his first IPL half-century.
BRIEF SCORES
Sunrisers Hyderabad 197 for 6 (Abhishek 67, Klaasen 53*, Marsh 4-27) beat Delhi Capitals 188 for 6 (Marsh 63, Salt 59, Markande 2-20) by 9 runs.
