Kolkata, May 16 (PTI): Finn Allen's breathtaking 93 and Angkrish Raghuvanshi's equally engaging 82 were the differentiators as Kolkata Knight Riders made Gujarat Titans pay heavily for their sloppy fielding to secure a 29-run win, keeping their slender playoff hopes alive in the IPL match here on Saturday.
Allen’s explosive 35-ball knock laid the platform before Raghuvanshi, whose unbeaten innings came off 44 balls, and Cameron Green (52 not out; 28b) finished strongly. They added 108 runs off just 53 balls, lifting KKR to a season-best 247 for two.
In reply, skipper Shubman Gill (85, 49b), Jos Buttler (57, 35b) and Sai Sudharsan (53 n.o., 28b) fought well, but GT had to settle for 218 for four.
The victory meant that KKR now have 11 points from 12 matches, moving up to seventh on the table. But they will have to win their remaining two matches to remain in contention for a knockout stage berth. GT retained their second place on the table with 16 points with a game left.
In their massive chase, Gujarat Titans responded positively despite an early setback when in-form opener Sai Sudharsan retired hurt on 23 after being struck on the elbow by pacer Kartik Tyagi. Though the left-handed batter returned to the crease later.
At the other end, Gill produced a batting masterclass to keep GT in the hunt as the elegant right-hander smashed five fours and seven sixes, while Buttler was equally effective in a 128-run partnership for the second wicket that came off just 73 balls.
After playing out four dot balls against Narine early on, he broke free with a slog-sweep over cow corner before stepping down the track to launch another six over long-on. The right-hander also tore into Varun Chakravarthy, hammering two sixes and two fours in one over.
GT remained firmly in the chase despite KKR's Matheesha Pathirana, who came in as the Impact Sub for Finn Allen, suffered a hamstring injury during his second over and had to walk out.
Gill’s superb innings finally ended when Narine lured him into a false shot, with Anukul Roy taking a well-judged catch at fine leg as the spinner returned with 2/29 in his landmark 200th match for KKR.
Sudharsan returned after Gill’s dismissal and briefly revived hopes by taking 21 runs off Tyagi, while Buttler also reached his fifty in style with a four and a six off the pacer.
However, Buttler’s dismissal in the 19th over effectively ended GT’s hopes as KKR closed out a vital win on their home return.
Asked to bowl first by Gill on a sticky surface that had remained under covers after rain, Gujarat's disciplined attack struggled badly as poor catching compounded their problems during KKR’s relentless batting display.
Allen (93, 35b) set the tone as the home side raced to 100 in nine overs, then they took just eight overs to get to 200 with Green-Raghuvanshi combine doing well.
Allen survived a difficult chance on 14 when Jason Holder got fingertips to a sharp opportunity at cover off Mohammed Siraj.
The Kiwi opener then tore into Kagiso Rabada, launching successive sixes -- one straight over mid-off and another whipped over midwicket off a 149kph delivery -- to race to 28 from just 11 balls.
While Allen dominated from one end, Ajinkya Rahane never quite settled during his scratchy 14 off 14 balls before Siraj cleaned him up.
There was a brief slowdown inside the powerplay after Rahane's departure before Allen got another life.
Introduced into the attack, Holder induced a mishit from the batter, but Siraj spilled a straightforward catch at long-on.
Rashid was welcomed with two sixes and a four as Allen stormed to a 21-ball half-century. Raghuvanshi played the ideal supporting role. before taking over the reins in the death overs. PTI TAP UNG TAP UNG
(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)
