A brief spell of rain, delayed proceedings between Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Titans in Kolkata on Saturday.
That however, was not going to ruin GT's plans who decided to bowl first after winning the toss.
KKR opener Rahmatullah Gurbaz kept his foot on the accelerator from the get go. He batted with conviction to bring up his half-century off just 25 balls.
At 61 for 2 in 6 overs, KKR were looking good for a 200-plus score on a batting track.
But then on came Irishman Joshua Little who bowled tight lengths and deliveries angling in to trouble Gurbaz in the opening over.
He continued the tight line while mixing his length and Gurbaz got beaten time and again. With just ten runs coming off his first two overs, he was given the ball for another over and Hardik Pandya deserved applaud for the move.
Little first had Venkatesh Iyer trapped leg before and in the very same over had KKR captain Nitish Rana caught at backward point to put KKR on the backfoot.
Little finished his fantastic spell with figures of 2 for 25 and KKR managing a below par 179 for 7 in their 20 overs.
The foundation for GT's chase was laid by some superb strokeplay off the bats of Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya after Saha's early dismissal.
But their return to the crease saw GT play a couple of quiet overs before Shankar tore into the KKR bowling.
With 69 needed off the last six overs and with David Miller for company at the other end, he just launched into the bowling and clobbered Suyash Sharma, Dre Russ and Varun Chakravarthy for massive sixes before scoring two boundaries to help GT to victory.
Shankar hit 51 off 24 balls and he hit two fours and five sixes in his match-winning effort. Shankar has been a revelation this season -- in six matches, he has scored 199 runs at an average of 49.75 and his runs have come at a strike rate of 165.
Hardik attributed Shankar's success to being 'fitter and more confident'. He could just be one of the catalysts in GT's defending their title.
