Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans Timeline

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans timeline is one of IPL's most compelling young rivalries a clash between a historic franchise and an instant champion. Since GT's debut in 2022, these two sides have met 6 times, with GT holding a 4-1 advantage in completed matches (1 No Result). KKR have 3 IPL titles (2012, 2014, 2024); GT have 1 (2022 debut season). The head-to-head paradox is striking: GT swept KKR in 2022, KKR produced one of cricket's greatest individual moments to level things in 2023, and GT have won every completed encounter since.

That one KKR win Rinku Singh's 5 consecutive sixes off the final over at Narendra Modi Stadium on April 9, 2023 may be the single most replayed moment in IPL history. It transcends statistics. Yet statistics tell their own story: GT have won 4 of 5 completed matches, including victories at Eden Gardens and Ahmedabad. This article covers the complete KKR vs GT timeline: all 6 fixtures, the ball-by-ball breakdown of Rinku's miracle, the key records, and the narratives that define this young fixture.

KKR vs GT Head-to-Head Stats

All Matches: KKR vs GT Timeline (2022-2026)

IPL 2023: Rinku Singh's Miracle — 5 Sixes in the Final Over

Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad — April 9, 2023

This match produced one of T20 cricket's most extraordinary finishes — a chase so improbable that ESPNcricinfo's win predictor gave KKR a 1.29% chance of winning at the start of the final over.

Gujarat Titans Innings (204/4 in 20 overs)

Rashid Khan, standing in for the unwell Hardik Pandya, won the toss and chose to bat. GT's opening partnership fell early, with Wriddhiman Saha departing cheaply. The innings found its shape through a middle-order rebuild, and then Vijay Shankar took over. He had moved to 22 off 13 balls by the 18th over — composed and watchful. What followed was extraordinary. He smashed two fours and two sixes off Lockie Ferguson, then launched three consecutive sixes off Shardul Thakur. The final two overs produced 45 runs, 41 of them from Vijay's bat. His final figures: 63 off 24 balls (4 fours, 5 sixes)*. Josh Little came in as impact player off the final ball. GT finished 204/4.

KKR's Chase and Rashid's Hat-Trick

KKR's chase featured their third different opening pair of the season in three games — Rahmanullah Gurbaz and N Jagadeesan. It wobbled early (28/2), was rebuilt through Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer partnerships, then wobbled again. With 77 needed from 7 overs, the match was genuinely alive. Then Alzarri Joseph dismissed both set batters in consecutive balls.

With 50 needed from 4 overs and Andre Russell in the middle, Rashid Khan came on for his final over — he had specifically been kept for Russell, whom he had dismissed 4 times in their previous 38 balls. Off the very first ball of his 18th over, Russell was caught behind via an inside edge off a googly. Narine top-edged the next to deep midwicket. Shardul Thakur was lbw off the third — also a googly. Rashid's hat-trick was his fourth in T20 cricket, a world record at the time.

After Rashid's over, KKR needed 50 from 12 balls. ESPNcricinfo's win predictor showed KKR with less than 2% chance. Rinku hit a six and a four off Josh Little's last two balls in the 19th over, leaving 29 required from the final 6 deliveries — a target no team had ever chased in a T20 final over. The previous record was 23, set by Sydney Sixers (2015) and Rising Pune Supergiants (2016).

The Final Over: Yash Dayal vs Rinku Singh

Ball 1 (Umesh Yadav): Single to leg — 28 needed from 5 balls.

Ball 2 (Rinku Singh): Full toss — SIX over long-off. 22 from 4.

Ball 3 (Rinku Singh): Full toss — SIX over deep backward square leg. 16 from 3.

Ball 4 (Rinku Singh): Full toss — SIX over long-off. 10 from 2.

(Team meeting: Dayal, Rashid Khan, David Miller)

Ball 5 (Rinku Singh): Back-of-hand slower ball — SIX over long-on. 4 from 1.

(Another team meeting: Dayal, Rashid, Miller — and Shubman Gill joining)

Ball 6 (Rinku Singh): Short and outside off — SIX over bowler's head. Before the ball cleared the rope, Rinku had already taken off running toward his teammates.

KKR 207/7. Won by 3 wickets. Off the last ball.

Rinku Singh: 48 off 21 balls* (2 fours, 5 sixes). Five consecutive sixes. 29 off the final five legitimate deliveries. The first instance in T20 history of a player hitting 5 sixes in a final over to win a match.

Key Highlights from KKR vs GT Matches

IPL 2022: GT's Debut Win — a Thriller, Not a Rout

In their very first IPL encounter — Match 35 on April 23, 2022, at DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai — GT and KKR produced a contest that foreshadowed the rivalry's character. GT batted first on a difficult surface, and with Shubman Gill dismissed cheaply for 5 in the second ball of the second over, they needed someone to anchor the innings. Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 25) provided early support, but it was captain Hardik Pandya (67 off 49, 4 fours, 2 sixes) who steadied the ship. Andre Russell's final over for KKR was devastating — 4/5 in 1 over — reducing GT to 156/9.

Chasing 157, KKR's top order crumbled cheaply with Rinku Singh (35) offering the middle-order fight. Russell then walked in and launched a breathtaking counter-attack: 48 off 25 balls. With Russell there, KKR had a chance until the penultimate ball of the 19th over. They finished 148/8 — 8 runs short. Rashid Khan (2/22) was Player of the Match for GT. The margin was 8 runs, but the match was never comfortable — it was a template for the close, tense encounters this fixture would repeatedly produce.

IPL 2023 Match 2: GT Respond at Eden Gardens

Three weeks after Rinku's miracle, these sides met again — this time at Eden Gardens, KKR's home. GT, stung by their Ahmedabad defeat but still leading the table, turned in a disciplined team performance. Mohammed Shami (3/33) led GT's bowling and restricted KKR to 179/7 in front of their own crowd, with Rahmanullah Gurbaz's 81 off 39 the only KKR innings of note. In reply, Vijay Shankar (51* off 24 balls — his second fifty in consecutive matches against KKR) anchored the chase alongside Shubman Gill (49 off 35) and David Miller (32 off 18). GT chased 180 with 13 balls remaining, winning by 7 wickets. The balance was restored.

IPL 2024: Rain Intervenes, Seasons Diverge

The 2024 scheduled encounter at Ahmedabad was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain. Both teams received a point. The divergence that followed was dramatic: KKR qualified for the playoffs, advanced to the final, and defeated SRH by 8 wickets to win their third IPL title. GT missed the playoffs entirely, finishing outside the top four in their worst season since their debut.

IPL 2025: GT's Eden Gardens Statement

By April 2025, GT were in imperious form — table-toppers, six wins in eight games. KKR, defending champions under new captain Ajinkya Rahane, were struggling (7th place, two consecutive defeats). At Eden Gardens on April 21, GT showed no deference to KKR's title pedigree. With Rahane winning the toss and bowling, GT posted 198/3. Their bowlers — Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, and Prasidh Krishna — then dismantled KKR's batting lineup, with KKR collapsing to 159/8. GT won by 39 runs. Shubman Gill — former KKR player (2018-2021), now GT captain — was Player of the Match.

IPL 2026: Gill's Ahmedabad Masterclass

The most recent chapter in this rivalry was written on April 17, 2026, at Narendra Modi Stadium. KKR, winless across their first five games of the 2026 season, chose to bat after winning the toss. Cameron Green launched a brilliant counter-attack (75* off 44 balls, including two sixes off Rashid), helping KKR recover from a terrible powerplay of 37/3 to reach 180. But chasing 181, Gill was imperious — 86 off 50 balls, including authoritative drives and pulls that set the tone early. He was eventually caught at long-on, but GT were well ahead of the rate. M Shahrukh Khan hit the winning runs with 2 balls to spare. GT won by 5 wickets.

Notable Records in KKR vs GT Rivalry

Individual Performances

Team Records

Venue Records

Head-to-Head: Top Performers

Top Batsmen

1. Shubman Gill (GT): The rivalry's leading run-scorer and most consistent batter — including 49 off 35 (Eden Gardens 2023), POTM in 2025 (Eden Gardens), and 86 off 50 in the 2026 Ahmedabad win. The former KKR player (2018-2021) has returned to haunt his old side more effectively than almost anyone in IPL history.

2. Vijay Shankar (GT): Two successive match-defining knocks against KKR in 2023 — 63* off 24 in Ahmedabad and 51* off 24 at Eden Gardens. His performances against KKR are the defining chapter of his IPL career.

3. Rinku Singh (KKR): One innings, five sixes, one result. His 48* off 21 in April 2023 stands as the most celebrated individual performance in this fixture's history, and one of the greatest T20 finishes ever recorded.

4. Rahmanullah Gurbaz (KKR): 81 off 39 in the April 29, 2023 match at Eden Gardens was the standout KKR batting effort in a match GT still won. A reminder that KKR's individual quality doesn't translate to team wins in this fixture.

5. David Miller (GT): Consistent finishing contributions, including 32 off 18 in the Eden Gardens 2023 win that helped seal GT's reply.

Top Bowlers

1. Rashid Khan (GT): His hat-trick in the 18th over of the April 2023 match — dismissing Russell, Narine, and Thakur with three successive googlies — nearly won GT the match. He leads the rivalry's wicket count across all completed matches.

2. Mohammed Shami (GT): 3/33 in the Eden Gardens 2023 win was the bowling performance of that fixture, laying the platform for GT's 7-wicket reply.

3. Kagiso Rabada (GT): Key powerplay breakthroughs in the 2025 and 2026 matches; his pace at Ahmedabad and Kolkata has been GT's most potent new-ball weapon in recent seasons.

4. Sunil Narine (KKR): Middle-over control and occasional breakthroughs; his dismissal by Rashid's googly for a hat-trick wicket is the most memorable contribution in this fixture.

5. Yash Dayal (GT): The unlikely villain of Rinku's miracle — his five consecutive deliveries included three full tosses and a short ball, all dispatched for sixes. His account of the over ("If that hadn't happened to me, I don't know if I might be here today") has become part of cricket's mental health conversation.

KKR vs GT: What Makes This Rivalry Special?

The KKR vs GT rivalry encapsulates IPL's most fascinating paradox: a franchise with 17 years of history and 3 titles unable to find a consistent formula against a side that had never played an IPL game before April 2022. GT's 4-1 record over KKR is more lopsided than their head-to-head against almost any other team.

Yet KKR produced the single most extraordinary moment this fixture has ever seen. Rinku Singh's 5 consecutive sixes — off deliveries that would have ended the match anywhere else in the world — transcended cricket and became a cultural phenomenon. The probability was 1.29%. The outcome was a KKR win. The contradiction between GT's statistical dominance and KKR's miraculous exception defines this rivalry perfectly.

The Shubman Gill subplot runs through every match. Gill played for KKR from 2018 to 2021, learning his craft under the Kolkata lights. He joined GT's inaugural squad in 2022, won the title in his first season, and has since become GT's captain and their most important player in this fixture. In 2025 and 2026, his Player of the Match performances against his former franchise added personal narrative layers that make this rivalry uniquely compelling.

Rashid Khan's hat-trick in the April 2023 match — which almost won the game before Rinku intervened — stands as the other defining bowling moment. Three consecutive googlies, three wickets, a world record (fourth T20 hat-trick). Yet even that wasn't enough to win the match.

Championship trajectories contrast fascinatingly. GT won the IPL in their debut season and were runners-up the next — two finals in two years. Then they missed the playoffs in 2024, the same season KKR won their third title without completing a match against GT. GT's consistency in this specific fixture has not mirrored their overall form in every season.

Conclusion

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs Gujarat Titans timeline is IPL's most paradoxical young rivalry. GT's 4-1 dominance over three-time champions KKR defies conventional wisdom yet KKR produced the most miraculous finish in IPL history, Rinku Singh's 5 consecutive sixes in April 2023, to claim their only win in this fixture. That single over the 1.29% probability, the broken record, the hat-trick that wasn't enough sits permanently in cricket folklore alongside GT's comprehensive head-to-head superiority. Shubman Gill's 2026 masterclass (86 off 50) at the same Ahmedabad ground where Rinku hit those five sixes is the rivalry's latest chapter. With both franchises title-winners and both carrying genuine championship ambition, this fixture promises more history with every encounter.