Royal Challengers Bengaluru punched their ticket to back-to-back finals with a crushing 92-run victory over Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala on May 26, 2026. A monumental batting display from the defending champions built a mountain too steep for the Titans, who crumbled under the scoreboard pressure despite a lone-warrior knock from Rahul Tewatia.
Rajat Patidar (93 off 33) led from the front with a ruthless exhibition of clean hitting, hitting 9 sixes to power RCB to a staggering 254. In reply, New Zealand’s Jacob Duffy (3/39) and the miserly Krunal Pandya (2/16) triggered an early powerplay collapse from which the Titans never truly recovered.
Match Summary
| Details | Info |
| RCB Score | 254/5 (20 overs) |
| GT Score | 162 all out (19.3 overs) |
| Result | RCB won by 92 runs |
| Venue | HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala |
| Date | May 26, 2026 (Night Match) |
| Best Batter (RCB) | Rajat Patidar – 93 off 33 balls |
| Best Batter (GT) | Rahul Tewatia – 68 off 43 balls |
| Best Bowler (RCB) | Krunal Pandya – 2/16 in 3.3 overs |
| Best Bowler (GT) | Jason Holder – 2/39 in 4 overs |
| Player of the Match | Rajat Patidar |
RCB Innings: 254/5 in 20 Overs
After being put in to bat by Shubman Gill, RCB weathered the early loss of Venkatesh Iyer (19) to set up a batting masterclass. Virat Kohli (43 off 25) paired up with Devdutt Padikkal (30 off 19) to launch a relentless assault, lifting the team score to 76/1 by the end of the powerplay.
The middle-overs saw a brief double-strike from Jason Holder, who removed both set batters in the 9th over. However, captain Rajat Patidar turned the match into a personal training run. Patidar brought up a lightning 21-ball fifty before ending with a breathtaking 93 at a strike rate of 281.81. Partnering with Krunal Pandya (43 off 28), Patidar plundered the GT death bowling. Kagiso Rabada (2/54) and Prasidh Krishna (1/53) bled runs heavily as RCB breached the 250-run line.
RCB Top Performers with the Bat
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s/6s | SR |
| Rajat Patidar | 93 | 33 | 6 / 9 | 281.81 |
| Virat Kohli | 43 | 25 | 4 / 1 | 172.00 |
| Krunal Pandya | 43 | 28 | 4 / 2 | 153.57 |
GT Bowling: Figures
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Jason Holder | 4 | 39 | 2 | 9.75 |
| Rashid Khan | 3 | 29 | 0 | 9.66 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 4 | 54 | 2 | 13.50 |
Fall of Wickets: 1-21 (Iyer, 1.6), 2-93 (Kohli, 8.2), 3-94 (Padikkal, 8.4), 4-189 (Pandya, 16.1), 5-214 (David, 17.6)
GT Chase: 162 All Out in 19.3 Overs
Chasing a mountain of 255, the Titans’ dream of a direct finale berth fell apart inside the mandatory powerplay. Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleaned up skipper Shubman Gill for just 2 runs, and Jacob Duffy forced a hit-wicket dismissal from Sai Sudharsan (14). A ruthless opening burst dismantled the top-order as GT imploded to 51/5 within the first 6 overs.
With the contest essentially over, Rahul Tewatia played a spectacular counter-attacking hand. Coming in as the Impact Player, Tewatia hit 8 fours and 4 sixes to smash a fighting 68 off 43 balls. He shared a defiant 50-run 9th-wicket stand with Mohammed Siraj (5) to save some blushes. However, the asking rate was out of bounds, and Krunal Pandya polished off the tail in the 20th over to secure RCB’s ticket to the grand finale.
GT Top Performers with the Bat
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s/6s | SR |
| Rahul Tewatia | 68 | 43 | 8 / 4 | 158.13 |
| Jos Buttler | 29 | 11 | 4 / 2 | 263.63 |
| Kagiso Rabada | 9 | 5 | 2 / 0 | 180.00 |
RCB Bowling: Figures
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets | Economy |
| Krunal Pandya | 3.3 | 16 | 2 | 4.57 |
| Bhuvneshwar Kumar | 4 | 28 | 2 | 7.00 |
| Rasikh Salam | 3 | 24 | 2 | 8.00 |
Fall of Wickets: 1-17 (Sudharsan, 2.3), 2-27 (Gill, 3.1), 3-51 (Buttler, 4.5), 4-51 (Sindhu, 5.1), 5-51 (Holder, 5.4), 6-65 (Sundar, 8.2), 7-78 (Rashid Khan, 10.3), 8-88 (Rabada, 11.2), 9-156 (Tewatia, 18.1), 10-162 (Siraj, 19.3)
Key Highlights
- Patidar’s 93-Run Blitz: The RCB captain put on an absolute clinic in modern power-hitting, bringing up his fifty off just 21 balls and hammering 9 giant sixes across the short Dharamsala boundaries.
- The 51/5 Powerplay Shredding: RCB’s bowling unit produced a tournament-defining opening spell, completely wiping out GT’s frontline batters inside the first 34 balls of the chase.
- Krunal Pandya’s Elite Control: On an absolute highway of a wicket where teams aggregated 416 runs, Krunal Pandya squeezed the scoring rate down to an incredible 4.57 economy while collecting two scalps.
- Tewatia’s Impact Fightback: Stepping into the middle at 51/5, Rahul Tewatia combined clean hitting with smart strike rotation to log a fine 68-run knock under absolute scoreboard pressure.
- Tactical Replacements: GT used their tool by bringing in Rahul Tewatia for Kulwant Khejroliya right at the end of the first innings, whereas RCB swapped out fast bowler Jacob Duffy for all-rounder Romario Shepherd to reinforce their bowling depth.
