Captain Rajat Patidar took full advantage of dropped catches in the deep and made merry of the situation as his knock helped RCB post a massive score on the board. Rajat Patidar was determined ahead of the match to give it back to the GT Team. RCB were asked to bat first, and on the back of Rajat Patidar’s 93 and others like Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya also chipping in, as RCB posted a massive 254/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, GT struggled and lost wickets at regular intervals as RCB chipped away at the wickets, taking a spree. The all-round bowling display led by Jacob Duffy did wonders, and though Rahul Tewatia made 68, it was a bridge too far as GT fell for 162 all out in 19.3 overs and lost the game by 92 runs. RCB are into the finals of IPL 2026, while GT will make it to Qualifier 2 for their road to the final.
Rajat Patidar’s blistering innings powered RCB to a massive 254/5 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Venkatesh Iyer and Virat Kohli came out to open the batting for RCB while Mohammed Siraj had the ball in hand for GT. Venkatesh was off to a flier, while Virat was taking his time settling in and had trouble against Kagiso Rabada. Venkatesh was going great guns and put on 21 for the first wicket before the southpaw fell for 19 off 7 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next.
Kohli took the attack to the opposition, and Padikkal was off the blocks as well. The duo nailed the power play as they forged a crucial stand for the second wicket. After the power play, it was all RCB as they raced away to 76/1 in 6 overs. The duo carried on and put on a crucial 72-run stand for the second wicket, with both players looking well set out there. Virat was the next one to fall as he dragged the ball onto the stumps by Jason Holder.
Captain Rajat Patidar came out to bat next. Jason had two in the over as he dismissed Padikkal for 30 off 19 balls with 5 fours to his name. Krunal Pandya came out to bat next to join Rajat in the middle to rebuild things for the RCB team. Rajat started steadily and rode his luck when he was dropped on 14, which was a tough catch, but then, when Rabada dropped him off Krishna on 20*, little did anyone know how costly that drop would be for GT and in the match.
Rajat exploded after this dropped catch, while Krunal gave him good company out there in the middle. Pandya upped the ante as well. The duo of Krunal and Rajat took the game away from GT and helped RCB gain ascendancy in this match. Rajat was the aggressor, while Krunal played the perfect role of an anchor role but at a fair tempo. After the dropped catch, it was the Patidar show as he demolished the GT bowling to pieces. The duo put on 95 runs for the 4th wicket before Krunal fell for 43 off 28 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Rabada.
Tim David came out to bat next. Rajat was doing all the scoring now, as David was left high and dry as well. David and Patidar put on 25 runs for the 5th wicket before David fell for 4 off 5 balls, clean bowled by Prasidh Krishna. Jitesh Sharma came out to bat next with 2.1 overs left in the innings. Rajat Patidar went into overdrive mode now as Jitesh was watching his captain from the other end. Rajat maximised the last 2.1 overs and made sure RCB got a huge finish.
Rajat was playing a gem while Jitesh made sure no further wickets fell. Jitesh too chipped in with a boundary and maximum. But Patidar also threatened to get a hundred at one stage. The duo put on 40 runs in 12 balls for the 6th wicket, unbeaten as RCB finished with 254/5 in 20 overs. Rajat Patidar was the star with his unbeaten 93 off 33 balls with 5 fours and 9 sixes to his name, while Jitesh Sharma remained unbeaten on 15 off 5 balls with one four and one six to his name. RCB finished with 254/5 in 20 overs with 7 extras given by the fielding side.
For the GT bowlers, Jason Holder finished with 2/39 in 4 overs. Kagiso Rabada finished with 2/54 in 4 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 1/53 in 4 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 0/46 in 3 overs. Rashid Khan finished with 0/29 in 3 overs. Kulwant Khejroliya finished with 0/31 in 2 overs. This meant that GT had a mountain to climb chasing 255 for the win in 20 overs.
All-Round bowling display led by Jacob Duffy skittled GT out for 162 in 19.3 overs
Chasing a massive 255 for the win, Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for GT while Jacob Duffy took the ball for RCB. Sai started the innings really well, while Gill struggled during his stay in the innings. The duo put on 17 runs for the first wicket inside 3 overs before Sai was unluckily dismissed for 14 off 9 balls with 3 fours to his name to Jacob Duffy via a hit wicket. Keeper batter Jos Buttler came out to bat next.
Gill and Buttler added 10 runs for the second wicket before Gill was cleaned up for 2 off 7 balls to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Nishant Sindhu came out to bat next. Buttler started the counterattack for GT batting at Number 3. Sindhu did not stay for long but was a mere spectator at the other end. Buttler and Sindhu added 24 runs for the third wicket before Buttler fell for 29 off 11 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Josh Hazlewood, who cleaned him up.
Washington Sundar came out to bat next. The score stayed at 51 when Sindhu was dismissed for 5 off 3 balls, with one four to his name to Rasikh Salam. Jason Holder came out to bat next. Rasikh had two in the over as Holder was dismissed for a bronze duck to Salam. Impact Player Rahul Tewatia came out to bat next. Tewatia, who hardly got any batting, showed his class tonight. GT lost 5 wickets inside the power play. The score was 51/5 in 6 overs for GT.
Tewatia and Sundar added 14 runs for the 6th wicket before Sundar fell for 8 off 8 balls with one four to his name to Duffy. Rashid Khan and Tewatia added 13 runs for the 7th wicket before Rashid fell for 8 off 9 balls with one four to his name to Duffy. Kagiso Rabada came out to bat next and got 10 runs for the 8th wicket before Rabada fell for 9 off 5 balls with 2 fours to his name to Krunal Pandya. Mohammed Siraj came out to bat next.
Tewatia, playing as an impact player, was firing on all cylinders. He played a lone hand to give the team some respectability. Siraj was just hanging in there. Tewatia completed his half-century and added an interesting 68 runs for the 9th wicket as Tewatia fell for 68 off 43 balls with 8 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Prasidh Krishna came out to bat next. Prasidh and Siraj tried to add a few runs in the end, but it was to no avail.
The duo added 6 runs for the 10th wicket before Siraj was the last man to be dismissed for 5 off 13 balls with one four in his name. Krishna remained unbeaten on 6 off 7 balls with one four to his name as GT were eventually bowled out for 162 in 19.3 overs. 8 extras given by the fielding side.
RCB had a good day with the ball in hand. Jacob Duffy finished with figures of 3/39 in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 2/28 in 4 overs. Rasikh Salam finished with 2/24 in 3 overs. Krunal Pandya finished with 2/16 in 3.3 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with 1/39 in 4 overs. Impact Player Romario Shepherd bowled an over for 15 runs. So, RCB thrashed GT by 92 runs and stormed into the finals. Rajat Patidar was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead
So, RCB are into the finals of IPL 2026 while GT will move to New Chandigarh to play Qualifier 2 on May 29th. RCB will move to Ahmedabad and rest there before the finals. Time for the Eliminator clash in IPL 2026 as SRH face off against RR in New Chandigarh. This will be a do-or-die clash. The winner moves to the next match, the loser goes home. Let’s see how this game pans out in New Chandigarh.
Also Read: RCB vs GT: Rajat Patidar’s Magnificent Knock Sets Monstrous Target For GT