Dharamshala, May 26 (IANS) Royal Challengers Bengaluru produced a complete all-round performance to defeat Gujarat Titans by 92 runs and seal their place in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamshala on Tuesday. With this win, the defending champions reached the IPL final for the second season in a row.

Chasing a massive target of 255, the Gujarat Titans never managed to recover after losing wickets regularly. Pacer Jacob Duffy led the bowling attack brilliantly with three important wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rasikh Salam Dar, and Krunal Pandya picked up two wickets each.

Gujarat started positively with Sai Sudharsan attacking Jacob Duffy in the third over. However, in a strange moment, Sudharsan lost his bat while playing a shot, and the bat bounced back onto the stumps, ending his innings for 14 runs off nine balls.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar then struck a big blow by bowling Gujarat captain Shubman Gill for just two runs. Jos Buttler tried to counterattack and smashed Josh Hazlewood for boundaries and sixes, but Hazlewood responded immediately by clean bowling the dangerous batter. Buttler scored a quick 29 off only 11 balls.

RCB tightened their grip in the final over of the Power-play when Rasikh Salam Dar dismissed Nishant Sandhu and Jason Holder in the same over. Gujarat finished the Power-play struggling at 51/5 while chasing the huge target.

Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia tried to rebuild the innings, but Duffy removed Sundar for eight runs. The New Zealand pacer struck again soon after by dismissing Rashid Khan, reducing Gujarat to 87/7 in 11 overs. Krunal Pandya added to Gujarat’s troubles by removing Kagiso Rabada, who was caught by Virat Kohli at long-on.

With the match almost out of reach, Rahul Tewatia fought alone for the Gujarat Titans. The left-hander played an entertaining knock and reached his half-century in just 33 balls. He scored 68 runs off 43 deliveries with eight fours and four sixes before Bhuvneshwar dismissed him with a slower ball.

Krunal Pandya wrapped up the innings by taking the final wicket as the Gujarat Titans were bowled out for 162 in 19.3 overs.

Earlier, RCB had posted a record 254/5 thanks to captain Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93. Jacob Duffy was the standout bowler for Bengaluru with figures of 3/39.

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, RCB got off to a flying start through Venkatesh Iyer, who smashed 19 runs off just seven balls with three fours and a six before getting out to Kagiso Rabada.

Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal then kept up the attacking approach. Kohli played some stylish shots while Padikkal hit boundaries regularly as RCB reached 76/1 in the powerplay, their best powerplay score of the season.

Jason Holder brought the Gujarat Titans back into the match with two quick wickets. Kohli was bowled for 43 off 25 balls, while Padikkal departed after scoring 30 from 19 deliveries.

Patidar and Krunal Pandya then rebuilt the innings before launching a strong counterattack in the middle overs. Krunal scored a quick 43 off 28 balls, hitting five fours and two sixes.

Patidar was dropped twice by Gujarat fielders and made them pay heavily. He attacked every bowler and reached his fifty in just 21 balls. Gujarat also struggled in the field, giving away extra runs through no-balls and misfields.

Patidar continued his brilliant hitting till the end and remained unbeaten on 93 off just 39 balls, smashing five fours and nine sixes. Jitesh Sharma added 15 runs late in the innings.

RCB’s total of 254/5 became the highest score ever recorded in IPL playoff history.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 254/5 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar, Virat Kohli 43, Krunal Pandya 43; Jason Holder 2-39, Kagiso Rabada 2-54) beat Gujarat Titans 162 all out in 19.3 overs (Rahul Tewatia 68, Jos Buttler 29; Jacob Duffy 3-39, Krunal Pandya 2-16, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2-28) by 92 runs.

–IANS

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