Royal Challengers Bangalore have reached the IPL 2026 final after beating Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala. This is their second consecutive final, and overall fifth IPL final in their history.
RCB, after losing the toss, batted first and scored 254/5 in 20 overs, which is the highest score in IPL playoff history.
Captain Rajat Patidar played a key role with an unbeaten 93 off 33 balls. He played with full intent from the start, hit 5 fours and 9 sixes, and faced only one dot ball. He kept the innings simple and attacked every bowler he faced.
Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya also played important knocks of 43 runs each. Venkatesh Iyer scored 19, and Jitesh Sharma finished not out on 15.
Gujarat Titans got some wickets through Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder, who took two each, and Prasidh Krishna who took one, but they could not stop the run flow.
Chasing 255, Gujarat Titans never got going. Shubman Gill was out for 2, Sai Sudharsan for 14, and the top order collapsed early. Jos Buttler tried to counter with 29 off 11 balls, but Josh Hazlewood dismissed him at a key moment and broke their momentum.
After that, GT kept losing wickets. Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, and Kagiso Rabada all got out without building partnerships. Rahul Tewatia tried to stay till the end, but he had no support from the other side.
RCB bowlers kept it tight from the start. Jacob Duffy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and Rasikh Salam all took wickets and kept pressure on GT throughout the chase. Gujarat were eventually bowled out for 162.
With this win, RCB have now reached the IPL final for the 5th time (2009, 2011, 2016, 2025, 2026). They are also the latest team to join the list of captains who have led teams to back to back IPL finals, along with MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya.
This match also showed RCB’s clear approach in big games. Patidar played a attacking knock, and the team stayed aggressive with both bat and ball. GT, on the other hand, were always behind after the early collapse and never recovered.
Gujarat Titans now go into Qualifier 2, where they will need a strong comeback after this heavy defeat.
