‘It was nice to be on the opposite side and watch the ball sail over’ – David Miller extols Vijay Shankar after his match-winning fifty vs KKR

Gujarat Titans registered their sixth win of IPL 2023 as they beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 7 wickets on Saturday, April 29 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. After being put in to bat first, KKR rode on Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s sensational 81 off 39 balls and posted 179/7 on the board in their allotted 20 overs.

In the second innings, Gujarat comfortably chased down the target with 13 balls to spare as Vijay Shankar scored a brilliant half-century and remained unbeaten on 51 off 24 balls. Shankar was involved in an 87-run stand off just 39 balls with David Miller (32 off 18) as the duo guided their team home from a position where they required 82 runs off 48 balls at one stage.

Following GT’s clinical win, Miller heaped praise on Shankar for his match-winning knock and said it was nice to just watch him bat from the other end.

“Thank you very much. The guys set up a great platform there. Chasing a game can get a little heroizing. But I think someone like Vijay was on the going. It was nice to be on the opposite side, watching the ball sail over the ropes,” Miller said after the match,” said Miller was quoted as saying by IndiaToday.

Notably, it was Shankar’s second half-century of the season. Earlier, the 32-year-old had played a blistering knock of 63 off 24 during GT’s third fixture of the season vs KKR. Shankar is the second-highest run-scorer for GT having 199 runs to his name from six innings at an average of 49.75 and a strike rate of 165.83.

The South African batter also hailed Joshua Little who bowled a brilliant spell of 2/25 in four overs. Little picked up the prized scalps of Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer and was awarded Player of the Match for his performance.

Really nice to see him [Joshua Little] bowling the way he is: David Miller

Praising Little, Miller said that it was a great thing to have a left-arm pacer in the team.

“Really nice to see him [Joshua Little] bowling the way he is. It’s a great thing to have a left-arm pacer. He is adding a lot to the team. Bowl stumps to stump and does simple things well. I hope he gets to continue his form the way he is doing,” he added.

Little has picked up five wickets in six innings so far at an average of 37.40 and an economy of 8.50.

Meanwhile, Gujarat have climbed to the top of the IPL points table after their win over KKR with six wins from eight matches. The Hardik Pandya-led side will next lock horns with Delhi Capitals on Tuesday, May 02 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.