Royal Challengers Bengaluru beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in the IPL 2026 clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The Rajat Patidar-led side had a struggling start to the match as Sai Sudharsan wreaked havoc in the middle. The youngster smashed a 57-ball century on a surface that was two-faced in the first innings. He dictated the play early on, setting the momentum for Gujarat, but there was little support for him from the other end.
Shubman Gill departed after scoring 32 runs off 24 balls, while Buttler added 25 off 16. Towards the fag end of the innings, Jason Holder played a vital cameo of unbeaten 23 runs off 10 balls to help Gujarat cross the 200-run barrier, posting 205 on the board. They looked at least 20 runs short after the first innings and it was mostly because of Sudharsan and Gill’s slow start.
Now, even though a 58-ball 100 looks good on paper, especially with the strike rate being over 172, but modern-day cricket demands better and faster show. When the likes of Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi or Priyansh Arya are striking over 200, Sai too needs to focus on that area. The same can be said for Gill, who was dropped from the Indian team for this exact reason.
What happened in the second innings?
Jacob Bethell, who played the game in Phil Salt’s absence, struggled to get going, departing for 14 runs off 10 balls. However, once he departed, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal took over the business, stitching a 117-run partnership. The duo played an aggressive brand of cricket, leaving the GT bowlers clueless in the middle.
Kohli eventually made 81 runs off 44 balls. During which, the star India batter became the third cricketer after Chris Gayle and Rohit Sharma to hit 300 sixes in the IPL. He also became the first player to hit over 800 boundaries in the cash-rich league. Popularly known as the chase master, Kohli set the tone for the finishers alongside Devdutt Padikkal, who made 55 runs off 27 balls.
However, after they departed, RCB were struggling to get the job done despite being totally in control. They lost four quick wickets as GT bowlers threw everything they had. Nevertheless, Tim David and Krunal Pandya stayed till the end and won the game for the hosts, who played their final league game at Chinnaswamy tonight. They will play their remaining two home games in Raipur.
Meanwhile, with the win, RCB moved to second on the points table, just behind Punjab. Gujarat remained seventh.
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