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Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) completely bulldozed Gujarat Titans (GT) by 92 runs in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the HPCA Stadium, Dharamsala to storm into their second straight IPL final.
RCB first produced absolute carnage with the bat by posting a gigantic total of 254/5 before their bowlers dismantled GT early in the chase and never allowed them to recover.
Following the crushing defeat, GT captain Shubman Gill admitted that his side failed badly in pressure situations and also pointed fingers at their poor fielding effort during the contest.
Also Read: Patidar-Duffy's wizardry fires RCB into IPL 2026 final with crushing 92-run win over GT
Shubman Gill blames GT fielding after heavy loss against RCB
Speaking after the match, Shubman Gill admitted that Gujarat Titans were still in the game till the midway stage but their fielding mistakes and inability to handle pressure cost them heavily.
"I think we were going pretty well till the 12th-13th over. Our fielding wasn't upto the mark. One of those games we would like to forget and start over. I don't think it was our day," Gill said.
"Under pressure situations we were not upto the mark. It's all about getting a good start. The outfield was quick, but with the way the pitch behaving, the total was chaseable."
Gill also reacted to the bizarre dismissal of Sai Sudharsan, who got hit wicket after smashing a boundary off the same delivery.
"You don't see that kind of dismissal, very unfortunate," he added.
GT’s fielding indeed turned out to be one of the biggest reasons behind the loss as Gujarat fielders dropped two catches of Rajat Patidar in the same over.
Patidar made full use of those lifelines and completely took the game away from GT with a breathtaking innings.
RCB dominate with bat and ball to seal IPL 2026 final berth
Earlier in the match, RCB produced one of the greatest playoff batting performances in IPL history. Captain Rajat Patidar smashed an unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls, while Virat Kohli continued his sensational season with a quickfire 43 off 25 deliveries.
Devdutt Padikkal scored 30 off 19 balls, Krunal Pandya added 43 off 28 and Jitesh Sharma chipped in with a cameo of 15 off five balls as RCB posted a mammoth 254/5.
In response, Gujarat Titans batting completely crumbled under pressure. Apart from Rahul Tewatia, who fought hard with a valiant 68 off 43 balls, none of the GT batters could put up resistance against the RCB bowling attack.
For RCB, Jacob Duffy starred with three wickets, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up two wickets and also reclaimed the Purple Cap.
Josh Hazlewood took one wicket, while Rasikh Salam Dar and Krunal Pandya grabbed two wickets each to complete RCB’s dominant victory.
With the emphatic win, RCB booked a direct place in the IPL 2026 final and moved one step closer towards defending their title successfully.
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