GT vs KKR, 39th Match at Kolkata, IPL, Apr 21 2025 - Match Result

11.42pm That's all we have from tonight then, from the garden of Eden. Another home loss for KKR, and GT continue their fine form in the tournament. What a solid team they look like. Tomorrow the caravan moves to Lucknow where LSG host Delhi Capitals. Let's see if Faf du Plessis and Mayank Yadav return or not, and until then it's goodbye and good luck from me, Vishal Dikshit and Ashish Pant. Ciao!

Shubman Gill, the winning captain is also the Player of the Match: Very pleased. The talk for us earlier was that these two matches were going to decide where we stand on the table, so very happy with how they went. There is no such conversation (between me and Sai Sudharsan that one of us has to stay till the end), we want to play our best game, score as much runs, we never say that one of us has to stay in the end. We just want to bat deep. We were ahead in the game, but it's important to close the game. Good teams close the game very well. In this format it's very difficult to have a perfect game, like ven today maybe 10 more runs if I had stayed there. But still you have to find a way to win the game and that's what we're really good at.

11.19pm It's another clinical win for table-toppers Gujarat Titans who extend their lead at the top with their sixth win in eight games. KKR, meanwhile, have lost two in a row, still at seventh place in the table and they are not looking good at all in the middle of the season. 199 looked gettable on this track although GT's bowling attack made it look like 220 or 240. KKR dropped de Kock today but like Rahane says, their opening stands continue to be a concern, although the way Venky Iyer and Rinku Singh struggled to get going will be a big concern for them. Sure, Russell didn't hit too many either but he was trying almost every ball after he came out, and was a case of perform or perish. GT continue to win with their formula of starting a bit cautiously with the bat, scoring big after that with the top three and then letting their bowlers build all the pressure.

Ajinkya Rahane: I thought 199 was chaseable, we came back into the game really well with the ball. You expect good opening starts, but that's what we're struggling with throughout the tournament. But we need to learn as quickly as possible. The pitch was a little slow, but when we were bowling we thought something below 210 or 200 would be good. We need to bat better, especially in the middle overs. We need better opening starts, no complaints from our bowlers. Every game they're improving. Yes, fielding is something in our control, if you can save 15-20 runs that's always better. It's all about attitude, but the guys are working hard. This format is about being brave as a batter, you can't think too much about the past, just learn from the mistakes and take your chances, have a positive mindset. If you think about getting out, you will get out. Instead you should think about scoring runs or hitting boundaries. We have quality batters in the middle order especially, I back them but you have to be brave. Good to see Angrkish batting really well. Today was a situation we wanted to push the other batters up.

Adarsh: "Poor Ajinkya Rahane, an extremely improved batsman, but the poor batting from the others, is letting his performance down."

Ddn: "2024 just a minor blip for GT. Back to being table toppers"

Sai Kishore: There was enough purchase in the wicket, in the second innings even more. That total was very good to defend. (While bowling to Russell) I tried to change the angles a little so that the deviations were different every time, the situation was good enough for me to attack. (On Rashid Khan) He's one of the best T20 bowlers in the world and he's getting his wicket-taking knack back. We always back him, not sure what's said in the commentary box but he's the best T20 bowler in the world. Our fielding was very good today, we're addressing things to get better.

Harshit Rana now

KKR might feel better that they've gone past 150 at least

Raj Patel: "SRK just helping KKR"

Siraj for his last now

Rashid to finish off