![[WATCH] IPL 2026: Virat Kohli’s hilarious bowling tease leaves everyone in splits in Dharamsala](https://g-mob.glance-cdn.com/public/fc/image/Bh-75ken7gI0.webp)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) beat the Gujarat Titans (GT) by 92 runs at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday,
May 26, to book their ticket in the final.
Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field first on a splendid batting track. Venkatesh Iyer, Virat Kohli, and Devdutt Padikkal batted with great intent and amassed 93 runs inside nine overs. While Iyer was dismissed in the second over by Kagiso Rabada, Kohli and Padikkal lost their wickets to Jason Holder in the ninth over.
Rajat Patidar played one of the finest knocks in IPL playoff history, smashing 93 not out off 33 balls. He belted nine sixes and five fours, while Krunal Pandya and Jitesh Sharma gave him ample support. RCB finished with a massive score of 254/5.
In reply, the Titans lost their famed top three inside five overs with only 51 runs on the board. At the score of 51, they lost two more wickets - Holder and Nishant Sindhu. Washington Sundar was dismissed a few overs later, and RCB were into the bowlers.
Rahul Tewatia played a fine hand from one end after his team was reduced to 88/8 in the 12th over. He eventually made 68 off 43 balls before GT were rolled over for 162 in 19.3 overs. Jacob Duffy, who was brought back into the side for this game, was the star performer for RCB, as he bagged a three-for.
Here are the top stats and milestones from Qualifier 1:
- Rajat Patidar now has the joint fourth fastest fifty (21 balls) in IPL knockouts/playoffs in terms of balls faced.
- Kulwant Khejroliya, the GT seamer, conceded 28 runs in his second over. This is the second most expensive over in IPL knockouts/playoffs, only behind the 33-run over from Parvinder Awana in IPL 2014.
- Kohli and Padikkal put on their seventh 50-plus partnership this season, which is the joint second most by a pair in a season, only behind Faf du Plessis and Kohli in 2023.
- RCB now have the fourth-highest power play total (76/1) in IPL knockouts/playoffs.
- Kagiso Rabada now has the most wickets (18) in the first six overs in an IPL edition.
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar has the joint-second-most number of wickets (26) for an RCB bowler in an IPL season.
- RCB became the fourth team to reach back-to-back IPL finals.
- RCB have now entered their fifth IPL final. Only CSK (10) and MI (6) have played more IPL finals.
- This is the second-highest victory margin (92) in terms of runs in IPL knockouts/playoffs.
- Rahul Tewatia and Mohammed Siraj forged a 68-run stand on Tuesday. This is the second-highest for the ninth wicket in the IPL.
