Key Points

Gill-led GT continued their winning run in the Indian Premier League (IPL), crushing Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 39 runs at Kolkata's Eden Gardens, condemning the hosts to their fifth loss in their title defence.

Speaking during the match in the post-match presentation, Gill said, "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 (with 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 is very difficult to have a perfect game, like even today, maybe 10 more runs if I had stayed there. But still, you have to find a way to win the game, and that is what we are really good at," he added.

Coming to the match, KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first. A 114-run stand between Sudharsan (52 in 36 balls, with six fours and a six) and Gill, who went to score 90 in 55 balls, with 10 fours and three sixes, served as a solid foundation for a big score. Then a 58-run stand between Gill and Jos Buttler (41* in 23 balls, with eight fours) took GT to 198/3 in their 20 overs.

Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy and Andre Russell got a wicket each for KKR.During the run-chase, KKR, except for their skipper Ajinkya Rahane (50 in 36 balls, with five fours and a six), failed to put up much of a fight as superb spells from Prasidh Krishna (2/25) and Rashid Khan (2/25) reduced them to 159/8 at the end of their 20 overs.

Gill was given the 'Player of the Match' for his knock of 90 runs.

KKR have slipped to seventh spot with three wins and their fifth loss, while GT maintain their supremacy at top with six wins and two losses, giving them 12 points.

- ANI