GT vs KKR IPL 2023 Highlights: Vijay Shankar Blistering Fifty Helps Gujrat Move Top Of Table

GT vs KKR IPL 2023 Highlights: Vijay Shankar has an affinity for Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) bowling. The Gujarat Titans (GT) batsman ruined Andre Russell's 35th birthday by smashing the spinners while the match was slightly slanted in KKR's favor on a wicket where the ball was gripping. Saturday, he turned KKR's strength into their Achilles injury, resulting in a seven-wicket victory.

Shankar scored 63 off 24 balls in Ahmedabad, but his performance was overshadowed by Rinku Singh's ability to smash sixes. Here, his 51* (24b; 2x4; 5x6) and David Miller's 32* off 18, as well as their unbroken 87-run stand in 41 balls, ensured that the defending champions maintained their unblemished away record with a degree of ease that seemed unlikely when they joined forces in the 12th over.

KKR's innings reflected the conditions at Eden, which were a combination of light and shadow. As GT elected to field, the scorching sun gave way to light rain. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Russell provided a solid start and finish, but as the big Jamaican stated on television during the innings break, 179/7 was potentially 20 runs short. This occurred because no one avoided Gurbaaz.

Shardul Thakur was dismissed by a catch reminiscent of one at Lord's in 1983, with Mohit Sharma running back to collect what appeared to be a good chip. Venkatesh Iyer exhibited poor judgment against Josh Little on a day when the Irishman's span of 4-0-25-2 earned him player of the match honors. Three balls after Iyer's departure, Nitish Rana departed.

At the halfway point, GT held a slender advantage at 89/1. Sunil Narine ended Shubman Gill's typically fluent innings after Hardik Pandya strolled on after being trapped leg-before by Harshit Rana, who was playing in place of the injured Umesh Yadav. KKR regained the lead after going five matches without a wicket. The chant of "KKR, KKR" reverberated throughout the amphitheater, but Shankar and Miller managed to silence the crowd. KKR's finest over yielded 17 runs, while GT took 24 in the 17th, 18 in the 15th, and issued a challenge with 19 in the third.

After Iyer and Rana were dismissed, Rinku Singh and Gurbaz reconstructed the innings with a 47-run stand. However, with the exception of a six off Sharma, Singh labored with timing. No such issues exist for Gurbax. Jason Roy was favored over Gurbaz for three games, but when the Englishman was ruled out with a back injury, the Afghan picked up where he left off at this venue. He scored 57 against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Against the reigning champions, Gurbaz (81 -- 39b; 5x4; 7x6) enhanced his performance with strokes from all over the park.

Two sixes absent Hardik Pandya had Gurbaz swinging his arms, and it didn't halt until he was bowled by a full delivery from left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad, with Rashid Khan making a well-timed catch. Early on, using length, Gurbaz struck Khan for two sixes and three fours, but he also played a textbook forward defensive shot. With a lofted off-drive for six off Ahmad, he broke KKR's barren streak of 22 deliveries without a boundary.

Gurbaz smoked Khan over long-off for six and then followed that up with a boundary through midwicket when Khan attempted to leap. The go-to bowler for GT conceded 54 runs in four overs.

Gurbaz struggled with Little due to the left-arm bowler's innate angle and back-of-the-length deliveries. Little was the only bowler Gurbaz could not handle. Like Mohammed Shami, Little delivered 12 dot balls, including five in the eleventh over. Despite Russell's explosive 34 (19b; 3x4, 2x6), Ahmad and Little prevented KKR from accelerating in the final four overs, which yielded 42 runs. "They got us back into the game," said Pandya, the captain.

KKR were unable to match the Titans in the field – Suyash Sharma's dismissal of Miller on 26 off Russell may have been the moment when a playoff berth eluded them – and fell short in forging partnerships like Gill and Pandya and then Miller and Shankar. It has been their season-long narrative.