Kolkata Knight Riders suffered their fifth defeat in the ongoing IPL 2026. After a loss to Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, they remain the only side to have not registered a single win. In the first innings, Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj rattled the visitors, while captain Shubman Gill stole the show in the second, scoring 86 runs off 50 balls and helping the hosts win the match by five wickets.
Meanwhile, KKR made an important change to the playing XI against Gujarat, as they dropped Finn Allen for Tim Seifert. Interestingly, Ajinkya Rahane was once again back as an opener but his innings was short-lived, registering a golden duck. Seifert, who looked in decent touch early on, failed to contribute significantly, registering 19 runs off 14. Batting at three, Angkrish Raghuvanshi disappointed too.
The pressure once again fell on the duo of Cameron Green and Rovman Powell, who showed some intent. They stitched a 55-run partnership to bring KKR back into the contest, but once Powell departed for 27 runs, wickets fell like a house of cards. Green proved to be the one-man army, scoring 79 runs off 50 balls as KKR posted 180 runs on the board in the first innings. Overall, it was an extremely disappointing outing for the KKR batters again, especially as Rinku Singh and Ramandeep flopped again, despite the platform being set for them.
GT's heroes stepped up
For Gujarat, Rabada clinched three, while Mohammed Siraj and Ashok Sharma registered two each. In the second innings, Gill put up a spectacular show, launching a scathing attack from the very start to win the game for GT with two balls remaining. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakaravarthy did well for KKR in the middle overs but there was little support from other bowlers.
Gill dominated the proceedings and, in the end, helped Gujarat register their third win of the season. KKR, on the other hand, remain at the bottom of the table. It’s high time for the team management to take some tough calls and if that means dropping Rinku, Ramandeep or the captain himself, they must do so. Gujarat, meanwhile, produced a perfect bowling show and it will give them plenty of confidence.
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