On last Friday (3rd May) night, the youngster Shubman Gill played a brilliant innings that guided his team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), to a crucial victory against the home team Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Mohali. Gill played that innings in front of his family members who were present at the venue. Later, the KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan posted a delightful message on his official Twitter account.
It was an important match for KKR to stay in the IPL 2019 playoff contest. After winning the toss, the KKR captain Dinesh Karthik decided to bowl first. In the first innings of the match, KXIP put a challenging total on the board as they scored 183/6 in 20 overs. While Mayank Agarwal (36) and Nicholas Pooran (48) played some crucial innings, Sam Curran‘s late fiery batting (55* off 24 balls) helped the host side to manage a good first innings total.
Shubman Gill guided KKR to the victory
In reply, KKR openers Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn provided a great start with a 62-run partnership in the first six overs. The Australian cricketer Lynn dominated that partnership as he scored 46 runs off just 22 balls.
After Lynn’s dismissal on the final ball of the powerplay, Gill took charge in that chasing. The 19-year-old calmly guided the KKR side to a crucial victory after remaining not out on 65 runs off 49 balls. In that outstanding innings, the right-handed batsman hit five boundaries and two over-boundaries. His innings helped KKR to successfully chase the target in 18 overs after losing three wickets (185/3). Later, he won the Player of the Match award for his impressive batting performance.
Gill played that innings in front of his family members. His father danced after Gill completed his fourth IPL half-century.
After the end of the match, KKR co-owner Shah Rukh Khan praised the lad along with the other team members. However, he also added that the night belonged to Gill’s father.
The Bollywood star tweeted on his official account, “Well done @KKRiders & @DineshKarthik . All played like u should…by backing urselves. @lynny50#SWarrier @RealShubmanGill good job. But tonite belongs to Papa! 3 cheers for proud papa & family.”
Well done @KKRiders & @DineshKarthik . All played like u should…by backing urselves. @lynny50 #SWarrier @RealShubmanGill good job. But tonite belongs to Papa! 3 cheers for proud papa & family. pic.twitter.com/KDlvVWmnYT
— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) May 3, 2019
Shubman Gill has played impressive cricket in IPL 2019
Shubman Gill has impressed in the ongoing IPL season (IPL 2019). After playing 12 innings in this season, the right-handed batsman has scored 287 runs (average 35.87). He has performed very well as a top-order batsman where he hit all three half-centuries in this season.
Gill’s latest half-century was his second consecutive half-century. In his previous match against Mumbai Indians (MI), Gill scored 76 runs off 45 balls that helped KKR to win that match by 34 runs.