Nitish Rana: (On the score) I think we were 20-25 runs short. If we keep dropping catches against big teams, I do not think the result will be any different. No one apart from Gurbaz and Russell got going. There were not enough partnerships and had we had a partnership of 40-50 runs, the score could have been more. We kept them quiet in the middle overs but against such teams, if you do not take your chances, you will end up on the losing side. If we do well in all three departments, only then will we have a chance. Unless we do that, the result will not be in our favor. I feel the small moments are more important than the big moments. If you do these small things well, like taking catches and fielding well, there are more chances of victory.
Hardik Pandya: (On Noor and Little) They got us back in the game and they kept us in the hunt. The way Gurbaz batted – he was hitting good balls with some conviction and clarity. The way they (Noor and Little) bowled was great. I would have taken 180 on that wicket on any given day. In a group, we know that to win the game, irrespective of the situation, we have to play good cricket.
that humbleness is helping us win games of cricket. They are respecting the situation, we want to face it and it is just about playing good cricket and being smart. (On Vijay Shankar) He is a fitter Vijay Shankar, more confident and the amount of hard work he has put in is terrific. His hits changed the game and moving forward, we can expect more of the same. I always felt that good people get to good places and he is certainly one of those.
Josh Little, Player of the Match: I just spoke to Hardik before the game and we talked about keeping it as simple as possible – hitting the hard lengths, and happy that I could do it today. The first game of the season was always going to be nerves. I have settled in nicely now. (On his plan on this pitch) It was just about smashing back of a length and letting the ball do the talking.
Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders Highlights today, Saturday 29-4-2023. 39th Match (D/N), Indian Premier League 2023, Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Toss: Titans chose to field.
Gujarat Titans team: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Josh Little, Noor Ahmad
Kolkata Knight Riders team: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, N Jagadeesan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, David Wiese, Shardul Thakur, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy
Head to Head In T20’s: 2
Gujarat Titans Won: 1
Kolkata Knight Riders Won: 1
Form guide
(last five completed Matches, most recent first)
Gujarat Titans WWLWL
Kolkata Knight Riders WLLLL
Match Timings: 10:00 AM GMT | 3:30 PM Local
Umpires – Chris Gaffaney, Nikhil Patwardhan
TV Umpire – Sadashiv Iyer
Match Referee – Satyajit Satbhai
Reserve Umpire – Mohit Krishnadas
Match number – IPL 2023 – 39th Match
IPL Points Table
Pitch and weather: Eden Gardens, after hosting three matches in this year’s IPL, has produced an average first-innings score of 222. It is the highest out of all the grounds on show in the tournament. So expect a few runs. Spin has offered a bit of respite, though – 21 wickets at an economy rate of 8.7 (versus 10.9 for pace) and a strike rate of 15.6, which is another season-topping metric among the grounds this IPL.
