Bengaluru punches its ticket to the final as Rajat Patidar’s brutal unbeaten 93 complimented by a fierce response from the Bhuvaneshwar Kumar-led bowling attack
Published: May 27, 2026 12:48 AM IST
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru are now just one more win away from delivering back-to-back Indian Premier League titles after the Rajat Patidar-led side defeated the Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala. The RCB captain came through with a 93-run knock in the 1st innings before his bowling department blew GT’s chances of staging a comeback.
A comprehensive 92-run victory like this just shows that RCB are in the mood and they are coming for the trophy again. Shubman Gill’s Gujarat could have dented Bengaluru’s confidence but the 2022 champions were left stunned and clueless.
Also Read: RCB Vs GT, IPL 2026: Watch Rajat Patidar’s blistering 21-ball half-century in Qualifier 1 at Dharamshala
Perhaps GT’s overreliance on their top-order has come back to haunt them and there will be plenty of things to reflect on. While they await the winner of Sunrisers Hyderabad Vs Rajasthan Royals from Eliminator 1, RCB will rest and reset over the next 4 days until the final on May 31 at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
After Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to field, RCB were given a solid start by Venkatesh Iyer and Virat Kohli. Their foundation led to the defending champions pushing further and further to post, 254/5, the highest total in IPL playoffs history.
Iyer’s early departure for 19 off 7 led to Virat Kohli, who became the first player to score 600 runs in 4 consecutive seasons and Devdutt Padikkal set an explosive tempo but the evening completely belonged to skipper Rajat Patidar.
Having been dropped twice while on 18, Patidar kept punishing the Gujarat bowlers until the last ball. He piled up a sensational and unbeaten 93 off just 33 at a daunting strike rate of 281.82. The likes of Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada were taken to the cleaners as Patidar smashed 9 towering sixes. His brutal batting saw Bengaluru loot 114 runs off the final 6 overs.
Gujarat’s daunting 255-run chase was instantly struck by an unfortunate and bizarre turn when Sai Sudharsan’s (14) bat slipped from his hands and crashed into his own stumps for hit-wicket off Jacob Duffy.
Purple Cap holder Bhuvneshwar Kumar then cleaned up GT captain Shubman Gill for a mere 2 and that was the start of RCB’s powerplay demolition, with the ball.
Josh Hazlewood then joined the party by castling Jos Buttler (29) before Rasikh Salam ripped out the remaining middle-order batters to leave Gujarat reeling at 51/5 within the powerplay. Despite a lone counter-attack from Rahul Tewatia, who slammed 68 off 43, the Titans were folded for 162 in 19.3 overs.
Gujarat will face the winner of Eliminator 1 on May 29.
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