Shubman Gill's 86 powers Gujarat Titans to third straight IPL 2026 win

Shubman Gill walked out to bat at Narendra Modi Stadium on April 17 and made the chase look straightforward. Gujarat Titans needed 181 to beat Kolkata Knight Riders, and Gill's 86 off 50 balls gave them exactly the platform they needed. GT got there with two balls to spare, winning by five wickets and securing their third consecutive victory in IPL 2026.

This win moves GT to fourth on the points table with 6 points from 5 games. KKR, meanwhile, remain at the bottom with just one point from six matches. That single point came from a no-result game against Punjab Kings due to rain. Every other game this season, KKR have lost.

How Gill anchored the chase

Gill and Sai Sudharsan opened together and put on 57 runs in the first five overs. That opening stand set the tempo for the entire chase. Sudharsan fell for 22 in the sixth over, bowled by Sunil Narine, but by then GT had already rattled along at well over 10 runs per over in the powerplay.

Jos Buttler came in next and kept the pressure on, hitting two sixes and two fours before departing. Gill did not let the scoring rate dip despite wickets falling around him. His innings included boundaries timed with the kind of precision that tends to make a chase feel controlled rather than frantic. He was eventually dismissed, but by then the equation had become very manageable for GT's lower order.

Rahul Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan finished the job. KKR took late wickets and applied brief pressure after Gill's dismissal, but GT never looked like losing from the position Gill had put them in. The win was completed with two balls to spare.

Cameron Green finally delivers, but KKR crumble around him

KKR won the toss and chose to bat. Cameron Green, who had been struggling badly before this game, finally produced a performance worth his price tag. He scored 79 off 55 balls, moving through the gears after a slow start, and looked in control for most of his time in the middle. The problem was no one stayed with him long enough for KKR to build a genuinely threatening total.

Rovman Powell chipped in with 27 at a point when KKR had lost three quick wickets, which at least kept the innings from collapsing completely. But Green and Powell aside, no one else made a significant contribution. KKR were bowled out for 180 on the final ball of their innings.

Kagiso Rabada was the standout bowler for GT, taking 3 wickets for 29 runs. Mohammed Siraj removed Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narine early, and those two dismissals in the powerplay put KKR on the back foot from the start. Varun Chakravarthy picked up 2 wickets in the chase but conceded 34 runs, which was not enough to make GT's batters uncomfortable for long.

KKR's unwanted record and where they stand

KKR have now lost wickets in the powerplay at a rate that has set an unwanted record in IPL 2026. The 2024 champions are struggling to find the balance between aggressive batting and preserving wickets in the first six overs. Ajinkya Rahane, their captain, has been unable to stabilise the top order, and Narine's early dismissals have repeatedly left the middle order exposed before it can settle.

Rahane said before the toss that KKR wanted their batters to play freely. The plan has not translated into results. Green has shown what he can do when given time at the crease, but KKR need at least one more batter to consistently anchor an innings alongside him.

GT captain Gill said after the win that the team's middle-order batting had collapsed in their previous game, and that they had addressed that issue in their team meetings. The response was clear in this match. GT play again on April 20 against Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad. KKR face Rajasthan Royals at Eden Gardens on April 19, a match they cannot afford to lose if they want any realistic path to the playoffs.