Ee Salavu Cup Namde? Ruthless RCB demolish Gujarat to book direct ticket to final
RCB vs GT, IPL Qualifier 1: Inevitable? Rajat Patidar's 33-ball 93 anchored a record 254, before RCB's bowlers decimated Gujarat Titans with ease. In Dharamsala on Tuesday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru booked their place in a second consecutive IPL final, one win away from history.
For 18 years, Royal Challengers Bengaluru were the punchline of Indian Premier League folklore. Then, something shifted. Under Rajat Patidar — a first-time captain, no superstar billing, leading a tournament that had seen some of the biggest names hold that armband — and the steadying hand of veteran Andy Flower, RCB ended one of the longest waits in the sport. A first title, finally.
But they didn't stop there. Built on a refreshingly well-assembled squad and an uncommon clarity of roles, RCB have since transformed into something far more dangerous: a side imposes.
Cut to May 26, 2026. RCB are now just one win away from becoming only the third franchise, after serial champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, to defend an IPL title. Patidar's side play with a consistency, a clarity and a sense of purpose so assured that it feels almost surreal. Because for the longest time, none of those words were ever associated with this team.
RCB vs GT, IPL 2026 Qualifier 1: Highlights | Scorecard
RCB DEAL IN VIOLENCE IN DHARAMSALA
On Tuesday evening in Dharamsala, they made their case emphatically. RCB crushed Gujarat Titans by 92 runs to punch their ticket to Ahmedabad, where they will contest their second consecutive final. Patidar led from the front again. A 33-ball 93, a routine, by now, and yet somehow barely believable, as RCB posted 254 in 20 overs. It was the highest total ever in an IPL playoff match.
What followed was a dismantling. The bowling group, galvanised by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, lit up the HPCA Stadium under a breezy evening sky below the Dhauladhar ranges, as RCB fans savoured the mid-innings fireworks and everything that came after.
It was more than a win. It was a statement. Precision and perfection — the things RCB have quietly made routine over these past two seasons — on full, brilliant display once again.
RCB lost the toss. They were sent in to bat on a ground where chasing teams have won almost everything in T20 cricket. And yet, their march into the final felt inevitable from the first ball.
"The wicket looks pretty good — pretty hard. It'll come nicely on the bat and I don't think it'll change much in 40 overs. So we'll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure," Patidar said at the toss. Most captains say something like that when the toss doesn't go their way. Brave face. Standard issue. Patidar and his men, though, seemed genuinely keen on walking the talk.
In Dharamsala — a town known for its calm — RCB deal in violence. The kind that shakes a opposition's belief, that sends jitters down the spines of the two teams waiting in Ahmedabad for their shot on Sunday.
They didn't have Phil Salt. No problem. They backed Venkatesh Iyer, who had given them electric starts in recent games despite spending much of the season on the bench. Iyer responded immediately — a ferocious 19 off seven deliveries, panic creeping into the Gujarat Titans camp almost at once. GT had leaned heavily on their new-ball pair of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj to blow oppositions away in the powerplay. On Tuesday, that plan unravelled in the first two overs. Iyer struck three boundaries off Siraj, then scooped Rabada for six before holing out.
Enter Devdutt Padikkal — the engine of RCB's top order all season. He didn't waste a delivery settling in. Even as Virat Kohli took his time finding rhythm on a surface offering bounce and movement, Padikkal played with the kind of freedom that has defined his campaign. He took on Rabada in the fourth over, reading the pace expertly and finding gaps with a delightfulness that made it look unfair — two boundaries off good-length deliveries, bisecting the deep backward point region to either side.
RCB raced to 62 for 1 after five overs.
SHUBMAN GILL'S MOVE FLOPS BIG TIME
For the first time in eight matches, Gujarat were forced to break their new-ball pair inside the powerplay. Shubman Gill turned to Jason Holder — less an attacking move, more a desperate attempt to stem the tide. It spoke volumes about the aura Kohli and Padikkal were projecting at the crease. Then Kohli joined the carnage himself, launching into Rabada in the final powerplay over with a series of emphatic pull shots. The mountain air felt thick with RCB's intent. Even a top edge flew into the stands, nearly clattering the commentary box glass.
76 for 1 at the powerplay.
Then, a shift.
Rashid Khan and Jason Holder applied the brakes. Only six runs came off Rashid's first over — disciplined, purposeful bowling on a ground where spin has always been a difficult art to execute, let alone master. Then Holder struck twice in his third over. First, Kohli for 43 — a length ball in the corridor of uncertainty, chopped onto the stumps. Then Padikkal, looking to cut loose after a fluent 30 off 18, caught at the edge and pouched by Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
99 for 3 at the halfway mark. Gujarat were clawing their way back.
Gill made shrewd moves. With two new men — Patidar and Krunal Pandya — in the middle, he handed the sixth-bowling slot to Kulwant Khejroliya, playing his first game of the season. A tidy three-run over. The pressure was building.
It got to Patidar too, briefly. In the 14th over, he mistimed two shots — but fortune smiled on him. Dropped on 14. Dropped again on 20 in the same over, off Prasidh Krishna. The rub of the green, as they say.
RCB were 140 for 3 at the end of the 14th.
They knew 220 was the floor on this pitch. So they pushed.
Gill gambled — another over of Kulwant, even as Rashid had bowled his first two for just eight runs. It's the kind of gamble that makes a captain look a genius when it comes off. Tuesday was not that day for Gill. Kulwant bowled arguably the over of the match — for all the wrong reasons. Two no-balls. Twenty-eight runs. Krunal launched. Patidar joined, capping the over with two boundaries and a six.
Then came Rashid — now bowling to two well-set, pressure-released batters who smelled blood. The result: 21 more runs, Krunal and Patidar dispatching the leg-spin maestro into the stands with something approaching contempt.
140 for 3 in 14 overs. 189 for 3 in 16.
Patidar had been 14 off 10 at one stage. He was now 49 off 20.
Rabada returned in the 17th and had Krunal caught for 43, snapping a 95-run partnership. But there was no stopping what had been set in motion. Patidar batted like a government bus going downhill — everything in his path simply had to make way. He tore into Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as 114 runs thundered off the last six overs. He finished on 93 off 33 balls: nine sixes, five boundaries, and a performance that once again defied easy description. Another night where Patidar took the game by the scruff and bent it to his will — single-handedly, fearlessly, inevitably.
It deflated Gujarat Titans, a side that had looked so assured coming into Tuesday. It propelled RCB into another final. And it sent a message — loud, clear, unmistakable — to the chasing pack.
Only a team playing with more freedom, planning with more precision, armed with greater role clarity and equally in-form match-winners can stop RCB on Sunday. Going by the form of every team left in this tournament, it's genuinely hard to see who that team might be.
Ee Saala Vu (also) Cup Namde?
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
For 18 years, Royal Challengers Bengaluru were the punchline of Indian Premier League folklore. Then, something shifted. Under Rajat Patidar — a first-time captain, no superstar billing, leading a tournament that had seen some of the biggest names hold that armband — and the steadying hand of veteran Andy Flower, RCB ended one of the longest waits in the sport. A first title, finally.
But they didn't stop there. Built on a refreshingly well-assembled squad and an uncommon clarity of roles, RCB have since transformed into something far more dangerous: a side imposes.
Cut to May 26, 2026. RCB are now just one win away from becoming only the third franchise, after serial champions Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, to defend an IPL title. Patidar's side play with a consistency, a clarity and a sense of purpose so assured that it feels almost surreal. Because for the longest time, none of those words were ever associated with this team.
RCB vs GT, IPL 2026 Qualifier 1: Highlights | Scorecard
RCB DEAL IN VIOLENCE IN DHARAMSALA
On Tuesday evening in Dharamsala, they made their case emphatically. RCB crushed Gujarat Titans by 92 runs to punch their ticket to Ahmedabad, where they will contest their second consecutive final. Patidar led from the front again. A 33-ball 93, a routine, by now, and yet somehow barely believable, as RCB posted 254 in 20 overs. It was the highest total ever in an IPL playoff match.
What followed was a dismantling. The bowling group, galvanised by Bhuvneshwar Kumar, lit up the HPCA Stadium under a breezy evening sky below the Dhauladhar ranges, as RCB fans savoured the mid-innings fireworks and everything that came after.
It was more than a win. It was a statement. Precision and perfection — the things RCB have quietly made routine over these past two seasons — on full, brilliant display once again.
RCB lost the toss. They were sent in to bat on a ground where chasing teams have won almost everything in T20 cricket. And yet, their march into the final felt inevitable from the first ball.
"The wicket looks pretty good — pretty hard. It'll come nicely on the bat and I don't think it'll change much in 40 overs. So we'll try to put a good total on the board and keep them under pressure," Patidar said at the toss. Most captains say something like that when the toss doesn't go their way. Brave face. Standard issue. Patidar and his men, though, seemed genuinely keen on walking the talk.
In Dharamsala — a town known for its calm — RCB deal in violence. The kind that shakes a opposition's belief, that sends jitters down the spines of the two teams waiting in Ahmedabad for their shot on Sunday.
They didn't have Phil Salt. No problem. They backed Venkatesh Iyer, who had given them electric starts in recent games despite spending much of the season on the bench. Iyer responded immediately — a ferocious 19 off seven deliveries, panic creeping into the Gujarat Titans camp almost at once. GT had leaned heavily on their new-ball pair of Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj to blow oppositions away in the powerplay. On Tuesday, that plan unravelled in the first two overs. Iyer struck three boundaries off Siraj, then scooped Rabada for six before holing out.
Enter Devdutt Padikkal — the engine of RCB's top order all season. He didn't waste a delivery settling in. Even as Virat Kohli took his time finding rhythm on a surface offering bounce and movement, Padikkal played with the kind of freedom that has defined his campaign. He took on Rabada in the fourth over, reading the pace expertly and finding gaps with a delightfulness that made it look unfair — two boundaries off good-length deliveries, bisecting the deep backward point region to either side.
RCB raced to 62 for 1 after five overs.
SHUBMAN GILL'S MOVE FLOPS BIG TIME
For the first time in eight matches, Gujarat were forced to break their new-ball pair inside the powerplay. Shubman Gill turned to Jason Holder — less an attacking move, more a desperate attempt to stem the tide. It spoke volumes about the aura Kohli and Padikkal were projecting at the crease. Then Kohli joined the carnage himself, launching into Rabada in the final powerplay over with a series of emphatic pull shots. The mountain air felt thick with RCB's intent. Even a top edge flew into the stands, nearly clattering the commentary box glass.
76 for 1 at the powerplay.
Then, a shift.
Rashid Khan and Jason Holder applied the brakes. Only six runs came off Rashid's first over — disciplined, purposeful bowling on a ground where spin has always been a difficult art to execute, let alone master. Then Holder struck twice in his third over. First, Kohli for 43 — a length ball in the corridor of uncertainty, chopped onto the stumps. Then Padikkal, looking to cut loose after a fluent 30 off 18, caught at the edge and pouched by Jos Buttler behind the stumps.
99 for 3 at the halfway mark. Gujarat were clawing their way back.
Gill made shrewd moves. With two new men — Patidar and Krunal Pandya — in the middle, he handed the sixth-bowling slot to Kulwant Khejroliya, playing his first game of the season. A tidy three-run over. The pressure was building.
It got to Patidar too, briefly. In the 14th over, he mistimed two shots — but fortune smiled on him. Dropped on 14. Dropped again on 20 in the same over, off Prasidh Krishna. The rub of the green, as they say.
RCB were 140 for 3 at the end of the 14th.
They knew 220 was the floor on this pitch. So they pushed.
Gill gambled — another over of Kulwant, even as Rashid had bowled his first two for just eight runs. It's the kind of gamble that makes a captain look a genius when it comes off. Tuesday was not that day for Gill. Kulwant bowled arguably the over of the match — for all the wrong reasons. Two no-balls. Twenty-eight runs. Krunal launched. Patidar joined, capping the over with two boundaries and a six.
Then came Rashid — now bowling to two well-set, pressure-released batters who smelled blood. The result: 21 more runs, Krunal and Patidar dispatching the leg-spin maestro into the stands with something approaching contempt.
140 for 3 in 14 overs. 189 for 3 in 16.
Patidar had been 14 off 10 at one stage. He was now 49 off 20.
Rabada returned in the 17th and had Krunal caught for 43, snapping a 95-run partnership. But there was no stopping what had been set in motion. Patidar batted like a government bus going downhill — everything in his path simply had to make way. He tore into Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna as 114 runs thundered off the last six overs. He finished on 93 off 33 balls: nine sixes, five boundaries, and a performance that once again defied easy description. Another night where Patidar took the game by the scruff and bent it to his will — single-handedly, fearlessly, inevitably.
It deflated Gujarat Titans, a side that had looked so assured coming into Tuesday. It propelled RCB into another final. And it sent a message — loud, clear, unmistakable — to the chasing pack.
Only a team playing with more freedom, planning with more precision, armed with greater role clarity and equally in-form match-winners can stop RCB on Sunday. Going by the form of every team left in this tournament, it's genuinely hard to see who that team might be.
Ee Saala Vu (also) Cup Namde?
IPL 2026 | IPL Schedule | IPL Points Table | IPL Player Stats | Purple Cap | Orange Cap | IPL Videos | Cricket News | Live Score
