RCB vs GT, IPL 2026 Qualifier 1 Highlights: Royal Challengers Bengaluru book tickets to final with 92-run win over Gujarat Titans

99 needed from 12. It's all academic from here. Bhuvneshwar to bow and finally, he snaps up Tewatia. Patidar with the catch. he had to jump backwards to complete that catch.

Rahul Tewatia c Rajat Patidar b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 68(43)

Rasikh in the attack and hsi first ball is given a wide. RCB will review. Stays a wide. Tewatia with a 4 and a 6 to follow. 13 from this one ultimately.

GT 156/8 after 18 overs

Hazlewood continues and Tewatia with a four to get to his half century. That's his second half century in the IPL. Places the 4th ball again for four more!! 

GT 143/8 after 17 overs

Bhuvneshwar back in the attack and after a dot, Tewatia smashes a four!! Goes into the 40s. Slog sweeps again and that's sailed over the ropes for a SIX!! He takes a single next and Siraj can see this over off. 

GT 134/8 after 16 overs

Krunal will bowl the 15th over and gives away a couple of dots and a couple of singles to start this one off. Ultimately yields just 2 runs from this one.

GT 123/8 after 15 overs

Hazlewood in the attack now. Bck to back dots to start this one off. A slower one next and Tewatia guides it to fine leg for four!! Sweeps leg side and that's another SIX!! A little gem here by Tewatia. A four to end.

GT 121/8 after 14 overs

Shepherd in the attack now and Tewatia welcomes him with a  slog sweep for a four!! Follows that up with a four that's hit behind square!! 100 up for GT. He slog sweeps again and that's over the ropes for a SIX this time!! 15 from this one.

GT 107/8 after 13 overs

On to the 12th over and there's a confusion going on about Shepherd and Duffy. It's cleared now and the impact sub Shephered is brought in place of Duffy. Krunal to bowl this over and the first ball is short which is slammed for a four by Rabada.Goes in the same place again and a running Virat kohli completes the catch!!

Kagiso Rabada c Virat Kohli b Krunal Pandya 9(5)

Duffy will bowl out with this over and after a single by Tewatia, Rashid clobbers the second ball over the ropes for a SIX!! AAAND HE's gone as well!! Rashid goes for a hoick, gets a top edge and that's into the hands of Jitesh.

Rashid Khan c Jitesh Sharma b Jacob Duffy 8(9)

Krunal in the attack now and he gives away a single off the first couple of deliveries. That's followed by another single as GT batters try to rebuild. Just 4 from this one.

GT 70/6 after 10 overs

Krunal in the attack now and he gives away a single off the first couple of deliveries. That's followed by another single as GT batters try to rebuild. Just 4 from this one.

GT 70/6 after 10 overs

Duffy in the attack again and Tewatia with a single to start. Washington on strike and he has just ramped it to Josh Hazlewood at third man!! That's the 6th wicket down.

Washington Sundar c Josh Hazlewood b Jacob Duffy 8(8)

Rasikh will continue and yields 3 from the first couple of deliveries. Follows that with a no ball. Free hit for GT. Amd the free hit is smashed for a four by Sundar. 11 from this one.

GT 64/5 after 8 overs

Hazlewood in the attack now and gives away a single off the first couple of deliveries. Gujarat need a partnership now to try and go close to RCB's target. Tewatia and Sundar need to be the ones to steer them out of rough waters. Just 2 from this one.

GT 53/5 after 7 overs

AAAND WOULD YOU KNOW IT!!! ANOTHER GT WICKET GOES DOWN. Holder trioes to take on Dar and has hit it high and Hazlewood with an easy catch!!

Jason Holder c Josh Hazlewood b Rasikh Salam Dar 0(3) 

THAT'S ANOTHER DOWN!!! GUJARAT ARE REELING AT THE MOMENT!! Rasikh strikes first ball!! Sindhu gets a bat to it and the followthrough is taken cleanly by the bowler!!!

Nishant Sindhu c and b Rasikh Salam Dar 5(3)

Hazlewood will bowl the 4th over and Buttler smashes the second ball past the bowler for a four!! Goes again and this time, it's hit over the long on boundary for SIX!! Goes even better as he creams the next ball through the covers for four more!! Goes again and this time, he gone!!!! BOWLED!!! GT are ina  fix.

Jos Buttler b Josh Hazlewood 29(11)

Bhuvneshwar on the attack and HE HAS CLEANED UP GILL!!! Gujarat have lost their top 2 in a flash!! Gill tries a smash and that's gone through him and rattled the stumps!!!

Shubman Gill b Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2(7)

Duffy will continue and after missing the first ball, Sudharsan feasts on the next one with a pull for a four!! Cuts the next one and for four but OH WAIT!!! He has hit the stumps on the followthrough!! His bat slipped from his hands and has taken off the bails. Very, very unfortunate!!

Sai Sudharsan hit wkt b Jacob Duffy 14(9)

Bhuvi to bowl the second over and yields one run off the first couple of deliveries, including a wide. Ohhhhh, Gill swings and misses. How has that missed the stumps? Just 2 from this one.

GT 13/0 after 2 overs

Alright then. after a bit of delay, we are ready for action. Jacob Duffy with the new ball in hand and Sai has slammed him for back to back boundaries. Follows that with a single to put Gill on strike. A big shout for caught behind but given a wide. Patidar will review. It has hit the thigh pads so not a wide. 

GT 11/0 after 1 over

There's a delay for the second innings as a laser show is going on at Dharamsala. The audience are enjoying it. Don't know about the players. Stay tuned.

Last over now. Where can RCB finish? Patidar on strike and prasdh with the ball in hand. Starts with a full stop and with a flick of his wrists, he slams a six to start!! Takes a single to put Jitesh on strike. Jitesh swings and mishits but gets 3 runs. Buttler could have taken the bails off with Patidar well short but fails to collect. SIXXXX DOWN THE GROUND TO GET TO INTO THE 90s!!! 2 balls and 8 rusn needed for the RCB captain to get to his 100. He won't get a hundred now with a single but what an innings. Jitesh finishes with 2. RCB have posted a massive 254/5 after 20 overs

Siraj's nightmare game continues as Patidar welcomes him with a huge six and a four off the first two deliveries. Takes a single next and Jitesh will face his first ball of the match. He slices the 5th ball away for a four as well. That is followed up by a SIX!!! Hasn't been Siraj's night. He finishes with 46 after 3 overs

RCB 235/5 after 19 overs

Prasidh to bowl the 18th and RCB will look to finish strong. Starts with a wide and a single as David goes off strike. Patidar returns the favour with a single of his own. After a couple of quiet deliveries, another poor piece of fielding gets a boundary!! Gill does not look happy at all. AAAND BOWLED!! Attacks the stumps and david swings and misses to see his stumps on the floor.

Tim David b Prasidh Krishna 4(5)

Rabada to bowl the 17th and he makes up for his dropped chance somewhat as he snaps up Krunal. Tries to go after Rabada and ends up holing out to Sudharsan in the deep. Patidar, meanwhile slams a six to get to his 50.

Krunal Pandya c Sai Sudharsan b Kagiso Rabada 43(28)

Rashid is back and Pandya with a single to start. Patidar on strike now and he has nailed a SIXX!! That drop by Rabada is poving to be pretty costly here. And Krunal gets into the act as wel;l as he slog sweeps Rashid for 6 more!! Patidar ends the over with another MXIMUM!!

RCB 189/3 after 16 overs

Khejroliya will continue and Pandya takes a single to start thigs off. Patidar with a single of his own as well as the bowler keeps it water-tight.Uffff!!! The third ball is carved away by Pandya for a four. To make matters worse, it's been checked for a no ball for height. And it's given as a no. It'll be a free hit. Oh dear!!! It's a simple bit of fielding and that's misfielded by Sindhu for a four!! And would you know it!! It's another no ball and another free hit. This one is for overstepping. And Patidar has hit it straight and Rashid can't keep it out for four!! The bowler comes round the wicket next nad is flicked for a SIX!!! Anda four to end.

RCB 168/3 after 15 overs

Prasidh continues and Patidar has hit the ball high and it just falls safely between two fielders. The short ball is employed next and Patidar swats it away for a four!! Another short ball and that's staright to Rabada but HE HAS DROPPED IT!!! How costly will that be? And to rub more salt in the wounds, Pandya has slapped a four!! 

RCB 140/3 after 14 overs

Khejroliya in the attack now and he's bowling a decent over with just 1 from the first 4 deliveries. Outstanding over with just 3 off it.

RCB 128/3 after 13 overs

Prasidh introduced in the attack now and starts with back to back singles. There's an edge now by Pandya but it lands just short of the keeper. Does not deter Pandya as he goes over the in-field to get a four!! That is followed up with a SIXXX to fine leg.

RCB 125/3 after 12 overs

Holdercontinues and Patidar pullss the first ball for a SIX!! Places the next one for a single. Now what can Pandya do? He takes a single of his own. Pandya ends the over with a flicked four to end the over.

RCB 112/3 after 11 overs

On to the 10th and Rashid is in the attack now. Gives away just one from the first four deliveries as Krunal can't seem to get off strike!! He finally goes off strike with a single and Patidar takes another one to retain strike.

RCB 99/3 after 10 overs

Huge shout for a caught behind and the umpire has given it. Padikkal is not sure and they go upstairs. And there's a spike on UltraEdge and Holder has rocked RCB with 2 wickets in 3 balls.

Devdutt Padikkal c Jos Buttler b Jason Holder 30(19)

GONE!!!! Holder has struckj once again in the middle overs. Kohli tries to pull and and that gets the bottom-edge of the bat and plays it on to his stumps!!

Virat Kohli b Jason Holder 43(25)

Rashid introduced in the proceedings and Kohli takes a single to go off strike. That's followed by a single by Padikkal as well. Two singles off the next couple of deliveries aswell as Rashid stems the flow of runs somewhat. Just 6 from this one.

RCB 92/1 after 8 overs

76/1 is the best PP score for RCB this season. Let's see how they bat when the restrictions are lifted. And we get the answer starightaway as Kohli pulls for four off the very second ball of Holder.  10 from this one.

RCB 86/1 after 7 overs

Rabada to bowl the last over of the powerplay and Kohli's wrists come into play as he grabs a boundary off the very first ball. That is followed by a smack through the midwicket region for 4 more!! Pulls again and that has gotten the top-edge and flown over fine leg for a SIX!! That's the 50-run partnership.

RCB 76/1 after 6 overs

Holder is brought in the attack now and yields just 2 singles from the first couple of deliveries. But the third is pulled away for a four by Padikkal. Kohli to face the last ball and ohh dear!! Washington Sundar with the throw and that's travelled to the boundary. Overthrows!! Nothing going right for GT at the moment.

RCB 62/1 after 5 overs

Rabada errs in line and Kohli makes no mistakes, flicking one off his pads to the fine leg boundary. Oh wow!! Padikkal doesn't even look like he's hitting the ball as he just places back to back deliveries to the boundary!! Those were not bad balls at all but Padikkal as well as the fast outfield is resulting in GT leaking boundaries. 

RCB 50/1 after 4 overs

Siraj will continue and Kohli lofts the first ball over the midoff region for a four!! Hasn't been Siraj's day thus far. Three more runs next before an appeal for an LBW is not given by the umpire. GT don't review. Another appeal and that's not given as well. Might have pitched outside. Padikkal ends the over with a four.

RCB 32/1 after 3 overs

Rabada will bowl the second over and Kohli swings and misses the first delivery. Same for the second one as he goes for a pull and completely misses the line. He finally gets an under-edge of the bat to take a single. And Iyer carries on from the last over, shuffles across his crase and just scoops one over the fine leg boundary for a SIX!!! AAAAND GONE!!! Went to the well one too many times and ends up giving a catch to Shubman Gill who had to run backwards a bit and does well to hold on to that.

Venkatesh Iyer c Shubman Gill b Kagiso Rabada 19(7)

Iyer will face Siraj and he opens his account with back to back fours, the first with a beautiful drive and the second through midwicket. After a dot, it's business for usual once again as Iyer slaps it to the mid-on boundary!! Iyer has played 4 play-off matches before this one and he has fifty plus scores in each of them. And we can see why here.

RCB 14/0 after 1 over

We are ready for live action and here come the two openers for RCB- Venkatesh Iyer and Virat Kohli. The Gujarat Titans are already in the field. We are ready to begin.  

RCB: Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Kanishk Chouhan, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox

GT: Rahul Tewatia, Glenn Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore

Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill(c), Jos Buttler(w), Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jacob Duffy, Josh Hazlewood, Rasikh Salam Dar

Rajat Patidar: I think, to be honest, the wicket looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. It will come nicely on the bat, so I think it will not change in 40 overs. So we'll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure. I think the first qualifier game is, I think it's a nice game to go straight in the final after winning this game, but we are just taking this one game at a time. We'll give our best in this game. I think we've played good cricket and we are just focusing more on our strength, rather than focusing more on the opposition. So yeah, focusing more on the strength is our motto this year. I think the surface looks pretty good. It's pretty hard. There's no grass cover on it, I think so. It will be nice to bat on.

Shubman Gill: We're gonna bowl first. It looks like a good wicket, you know, but we have seen and in this ground particularly, there is a bit of dew in the second inning, so it's always good to have a total on the board and a big win and then try to chase it down. I think, this match is all about taking the equation out of the game. We have been playing some really good cricket and hopefully we'll continue to do so. I've played a lot here in the under 14, under 16 days. I've spent quite a bit of time here, so yeah, hopefully it's gonna be a good use of us. And yes, it is one of the prettiest grounds, in the world. We have one change. Kulwant comes in in place of Arshad Khan.

We are ready for the toss and the two captains are out in the middle. Gujarat Titans win toss, opt to bowl first vs RCB.

Graeme Swann and AB de Villiers: This is possibly the most beautiful ground in world cricket, and we're out here for the pitch. First of all, let me do the dimensions. 63 to my left, 63 to my right, 73 down the ground. This is a place with fairly small pockets, however, only 58 metres to that slog corner spot. Now, one thing, I'll just come and have a quick look at this pitch, because I've spotted a few little cracks on this pitch. It is rock hard, but those few cracks, whether that means there'll be anything for the bowlers, I don't know. But one thing I do think, this will be good for batters. And we've got one of the best batters we've ever seen, AB de Villiers, to tell us more. Those cracks mean nothing, by the way. This is an absolute road. We've seen the stats throughout the season. Except for one score that was 199, the rest of them all over 200. And I feel with some of those 200-plus scores, the batters even slipped up there. So, I'm expecting a high-scoring game. Yes, there will be nerves, because it's a knockout. But remember, there is that incentive that if you lose, you still get another bite of the cherry. Absolute road over the weekend. I see a 220-odd somewhere around there. And if you were batting, would you prefer to chase or set on this pitch? Definitely chase. I'm a big fan. You look at the stats once again. I've never really looked too much at the stats, but chasing, you can just control it. And in today's day and age, with a modern player, anything is possible. Even if you get to 12 or 14 an over, you know you're still in with a shout. Long batting line-ups, impact player. So, plenty of firepower. There you go. Win the toss, bowl first.

Abhinandan Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Devdutt Padikkal, Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Krunal Pandya, Nuwan Thushara, Phil Salt, Rajat Patidar (Captain), Rasikh Dar, Romario Shepherd, Suyash Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Tim David, Virat Kohli, Yash Dayal

Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Jos Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Arshad Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Gurnoor Singh Brar, Rashid Khan, Manav Suthar, Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav.

Phil Salt missed the second half of the season for RCB with an injury that forced the franchise to experiment with their opening partnership. Sometimes, Venkatesh iyer would play with Kohli at the top and sometimes it was Bethell. With Bethell himself injured and gone back to England, will Salt play tonight? RCB captain Rajat patidar did not give a straight answer, saying the Englishman was fit but they hadn't decided on their playing combination.

Ashok Sharma (Rs 90 lakhs), Jason Holder (Rs 7 crore), Tom Banton (Rs 2 crore), Prithvi Raj (Rs 30 lakhs), Luke Wood (Rs 75 lakhs)

1 Venkatesh Iyer (India), Rs 7 crore

2 Mangesh Yadav (India) Rs 5.20 crore

3 Jacob Duffy (New Zealand) Rs 2 crore

4 Jordan Cox (England ) Rs 75 lakh

5 Satwik Deswal (India) Rs 30 lakh

6 Vihaan Malhotra Rs 30 lakh

7 Kanishk Chouhan Rs 30 lakh

First Virat Kohli lets his bat do the talking and then he speaks his mind. Be it when playing for India or RCB – this has been a recent trend. Few months back, he had a lengthy heart-to-heart chat at the award ceremony under Ranchi’s night sky after his ODI ton against South Africa. Now, after carrying RCB to the IPL play-offs he sat down for a long podcast. When you have the weight of runs behind you, your words carry heft and the world believes you.

On both occasions, as always, he was articulate, analytical and also unusually angsty. Kohli, all through his captaincy, made it an Us vs World battle to fuel his team and get sparkling results. This time the battle seems more personal. One doesn’t need to read between the lines; connecting the dots is enough to get a drift of Kohli’s statements. Without naming anyone in the team management or selection committee, he has been making a few telling points. (READ MORE)

RCB's talisman Virat Kohli will be looking to improve his ordinary play-offs record when he faces the Gujarat Titans at Dharamsala. The ace batter has played 17 play-off matches in his IPL career but averages just 26.40 at a strike rate of just over 121.

Winning Qualifier 1 not only gives the victor a direct route to the final, the numbers also back them to ultimately win the whole thing. In the last 8 years, each and every winner of Qualifier 1 has gone on to be crowned champions. In IPL history, it has happend 12 times when the team who wins Qualifier 1 has gone on to lift the trophy. 

Yash Dayal has spoken for the first time about missing IPL 2026, saying he is still part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) setup despite not featuring in the season. The left-arm pacer, who played a key role in RCB’s title-winning 2025 campaign, said he wasn’t removed from the team and it was not his personal decision to opt out of IPL 2026. RCB had earlier confirmed that Dayal would miss IPL 2026 due to personal reasons, but would remain under contract with the franchise.

Speaking on the Talk with Manvendra podcast, Dayal said, “They haven’t removed me from the team, and they haven’t even announced a replacement because maybe they still see me as part of the squad. It wasn’t my personal decision to opt out of this season. The statement may become controversial, but decisions are always taken by the authorities… I miss it a lot and feel like I should be there.”