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Gujarat Titans registered a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL 2023 match on Saturday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Opted to bowl first, GT restricted KKR to 179/7 in 20 overs despite a 81-run knock from Rahmanullah Gurbaz. Later, the defending champions chased down the target in just 17.5 overs, courtesy of 51 runs from Vijay Shankar. Apart from such a brilliant chase, one thing which became a major highlight of the day was the funny banter between GT head coach Ashish Nehra and Star Sports presenter Murali Kartik.
Before the clash between GT and KKR began, Nehra, who celebrated his 44th birthday on Saturday, was seen jokingly kicks his former India teammate Murali Kartik. Nehra’s kick pushed Kartik on the ground, after which he got up and jokingly gave a kick back to Nehra.
— Out Of Context Cricket (@GemsOfCricket) April 29, 2023
The entire scenario left all the players and staff members on ground in splits and could not control their laughter.
Coming to the match, it was sweet revenge for Titans, who lost their home game due to Rinku Singh’s heroics.
First it was, the Titans pace duo of Mohammad Shami (3/33) and Josh Little (2/25) picked five wickets between them, while left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad (2/21) continued his fine run to restrict KKR to a below-par 179/7 after Hardik Pandya opted to bowl.
On a batting-friendly strip, Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s scintillating 39-ball 81 set the tempo, but KKR managed just 45 runs and lost three wickets in the final five overs to miss the psychological 200-run mark.
In reply, GT raced to the target in 17.5 overs with Vijay Shankar remaining unbeaten on 51 off 24 balls.
Defending the paltry total, the home side had their moments when they dismissed a flawless Shubman Gill one run shy of fifty and almost had David Miller on 26.
(With PTI Inputs)
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