Gill leads Gujarat to victory over winless Kolkata as Green finally finds form

[p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gill-shubman/KOAQiuhe/"]Gill[/a] hit a third straight half-century for the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/gujarat-titans/WxbsgtO5/"]Titans[/a], following up on 76 against Delhi Capitals and 50 against Lucknow Super Giants in the previous two games. He now averages 59.52 in 27 T20s played at Ahmedabad.[/p][p]Striking at 172, Gill hit four sixes and eight fours as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/cricket/gujarat-titans-WxbsgtO5/kolkata-knight-riders-nmRRRXaA/?mid=YoyBNm7m"]Gujarat finished with 181-5[/a] in reply to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/kolkata-knight-riders/nmRRRXaA/"]Kolkata[/a]'s 180.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/green-cameron/215OHqmh/"]Cameron Green[/a] - the most expensive overseas player in IPL history - overcame poor form to top score in the Kolkata innings with 79 from 55 balls.[/p][p][b]"The only thing that matters is winning,"[/b] said Gill.[/p][p][b]"We would have liked to finish the game a couple of overs earlier.[/b][/p][p][b]"I was disappointed the way I got out. I wanted to be there till the end and finish it. Hopefully, I will be able to do that the next chance I get.”[/b][/p][p]Gill was full of praise for his two opening bowlers with Mohammed Siraj, who took 2-23, and Kagiso Rabada, who finished with 3-29.[/p][p][b]"The way Rabada and Siraj bowled, it looked as if they would pick up wickets every ball. Kolkata has a long batting lineup, so it was important to keep taking wickets in the middle overs."[/b][/p][embed guid="ce220c38-769e-4da7-a97c-581ab0d65ac6" url="https://x.com/gujarat_titans/status/2045198778517622794" social-type="twitter" /][p]Gujarat move to fourth in the table, their third win in five games giving them six points. Kolkata are 10th - and last - with five losses and a no-result in six games.[/p][p]Chasing 181, Gujarat got off to a fine start - Gill and Sai Sudharsan (22) put on 57 in 31 balls for the first wicket.[/p][p]Gill continued stitching vital partnerships - 38 with Jos Buttler, who scored 25, and 46 with Washington Sundar, who made 13.[/p][p]Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy came on as an impact sub, and dismissed both Buttler and Sundar, picking up 2-34 in four overs.[/p][p]The skipper scored 50 off 27 balls, his sixth at this venue, where he also has four T20 hundreds.[/p][p]Green took a superb catch to dismiss Gill three overs before the end, but the Titans were never in any bother chasing a sub-par score on a batter-friendly surface.[/p][h2]Green comes good with the bat[/h2][p]Earlier, Kolkata had struggled against the pace of Rabada and Siraj.[/p][p]Skipper Ajinkya Rahane was out for a golden duck to Siraj, while Angkrish Raghuvanshi made eight. Rabada also removed Tim Seifert for 14 - unable to use the width provided and offering a simple catch to fellow New Zealander Glenn Phillips.[/p][p][b]For once, Green came good when Kolkata needed him.[/b][/p][p]They had bought the Australian for an eye-watering 25.20 crore ($3 million) in the 2025 auction, but he has struggled for form. He had three single-digit scores in the previous five games, with 32 not out against Lucknow his best score.[/p][embed guid="e846867f-1980-4729-83b9-ddea302b22b1" url="https://x.com/KKRiders/status/2045169121369944147" social-type="twitter" /][p]This time Green hit 50 off 34 balls - his first for Kolkata and third overall in IPL. He held the innings together, rebuilding from 32-3 and adding 55 with Rovman Powell, who scored 27.[/p][p]His key partnership came with Anukul Roy, who only scored nine but helped put on 60 off 23 balls for the fifth wicket.[/p][p]Kolkata, however, lost four wickets for 19 runs in another lower-middle order collapse, and despite Green’s best efforts, finished with a sub-200 score.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/ipl/"]Follow the IPL with Flashscore.[/a][/b][/p]