Virat Kohli, chasemaster was at his all mighty best as he led another run chase in style. Virat Kohli was at his determined best and showed who was the boss against GT winning by 5 wickets with 2 overs to spare. Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first and Rasikh Salam’s 3-wicket haul led a disciplined bowling display by RCB to keep GT down to 155/8 despite a lone hand from Washington Sundar who was unbeaten on 50 off 37 balls.
In reply, Virat Kohli anchored yet another chase as he scored an unbeaten 75 off 42 balls while others like Venkatesh Iyer, Tim David supported him well as RCB cruised to the win by 5 wickets with 2 overs to spare. Rashid Khan was good with his 2/25 in 4 overs. But it was not enough for GT as RCB went over the line by 5 wickets with 2 overs to spare.
All-round bowling performance led by Rasikh Salam restricts GT to 155/8 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill came out to open the batting for GT while Jacob Duffy had ball in hand for RCB. Sai started well with a flurry of boundaries away and Gill too showed his class. The opening duo added 22 runs for the first wicket before Gill fell for 10 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name to Josh Hazlewood. Nishant Sindhu was promoted up the order to Number 3.
Sai and Sindhu tried to forge some partnership but could only add 3 runs to the tally before Sai fell for 12 off 12 balls with 2 fours to his name to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Jos Buttler came out to bat next. The duo tried to forge some sort of partnership and took the power play score to 45/2 in 6 overs. The duo of Sindhu and Buttler added 29 runs for the third wicket before Sindhu fell for 20 off 18 balls with 3 fours to his name to Rasikh Salam. Washington Sundar came out to bat next.
Buttler and Sundar had to rebuild the innings now. Then there was moment at the end of the 10th over. Sundar was batting on 4* and the score was 63/3 when a bouncer from Duffy hit Sundar’s top half of the bat and the ball carried to substitute fielder Jordan Cox who claimed to have taken the catch. But replays showed ball hit the ground and Sundar survived as RCB were 63/3 in 10 overs.
Buttler and Sundar added 18 runs for the 4th wicket before Buttler fell for 19 off 23 balls with one four to his name as he was stumped off Krunal Pandya. Arshad Khan came out to bat next. He hit a couple of maximums to show he can hit it. Arshad and Sundar added some runs for his side. The duo added 26 runs for the 5th wicket before Arshad fell for 15 off 6 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Hazlewood. Rahul Tewatia came out to bat next. He came and tried to push things through.
Sundar and Tewatia added 16 runs for the 6th wicket before Tewatia fell for 7 off 5 balls with one four to his name to Salam. Jason Holder came out to bat at 8 next. Sundar took over the mantle of the scoring while Holder was there at the other end and managed to get a boundary away. The duo stitched a crucial stand to keep GT afloat. They put on a crucial stand of 27 runs for the 7th wicket before Holder fell for 7 off 5 balls with one four to his name to Bhuvneshwar. Rashid Khan came out to bat next.
Rashid managed to clear the ropes down the ground for the maximum. Rashid and Sundar could add 9 runs for the 8th wicket before Rashid fell for 7 off 3 balls with one six to his name to Salam. Kagiso Rabada came out to bat in the final over of the innings. Sundar got to his half-century off 37 balls. The duo added 4 runs off the last 4 balls as GT finished with 155/8 in 20 overs. Sundar remained unbeaten on 50 off 37 balls with 5 fours to his name while Rabada remained unbeaten on 3 off 3 balls. 5 extras given by RCB bowlers.
It was an excellent bowling display by RCB bowlers. Rasikh Salam finished with 3/27 in 4 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 2/29 in 4 overs. Josh Hazlewood finished with figures of 2/37 in 4 overs. Krunal Pandya finished with 1/23 in 4 overs. Jacob Duffy finished with 0/38 in 4 overs. RCB’s target to win their second consecutive title was 156 runs off 20 overs.
Virat Kohli’s masterful unbeaten 75 takes RCB over the line with 5 wickets and 2 overs to spareÂ
Chasing 156 for the win, Impact Player Venkatesh Iyer and Virat Kohli came out to open the batting for RCB while Mohammed Siraj came out to bowl for GT. Siraj started well, but Iyer injured his hamstring and could not run. So, then he just took the attack to the opposition especially Rabada and tore him apart literally. Venkatesh took the attack on and demolished everyone. Kohli knew he could not do quick running and also tore apart Rabada as well.
The duo put on 62 runs inside 4.3 overs as they were off and running. Venkatesh then hit one shot too many and got out. He fell for 32 off 16 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes to his name as Siraj had his man. Devdutt Padikkal came out to bat next. One brought two in the power play for GT as Padikkal was removed for 1 off 4 balls to Rabada. Captain Rajat Patidar came out to bat next.
RCB raced to 70/2 in 6 overs of power play. Rajat and Virat then built another quick stand as they put on 26 runs for the third wicket before the captain Patidar fell for 15 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name to Rashid Khan. Krunal Pandya came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. Krunal fell soon as Rashid had two wickets in the over. Krunal fell for 1 off 2 balls to Rashid Khan LBW. Tim David came out to bat next.
Virat continued his merry ways as well and completed his fifty in just 25 balls, his 68th IPL fifty. Virat hurt his leg while running and was short of mobility. David came in and hit the bowlers as RCB had control of the chase throughout and just kept their cool. David did bulk of the scoring as the duo put on 41 runs for the 5th wicket before David fell for 24 off 17 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Arshad Khan.
Keeper batter Jitesh Sharma came out to bat next. Jitesh took his time and so did Virat as runs came in singles with the match ending as a holding pattern. When the team went within touching distance for the win, Virat decided enough is enough. He hit a boundary to level the scores and then hit a maximum over long-on to finish things off.
The duo of Virat and Jitesh added 29 unbeaten runs for the 6th wicket as RCB finished with 161/5 in 18 overs with Virat unbeaten on 75 off 42 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes to his name while Jitesh was unbeaten on 11 off 14 balls with one four to his name. Just 2 extras given by GT bowlers.
Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers for GT as they finished with 2/25 in 4 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/36 in 4 overs. Arshad Khan finished with 1/32 in 4 overs. Kagiso Rabada finished with 1/44 in 3 overs. Jason Holder finished with 0/16 in 2 overs. Impact Prasidh Krishna finished with 0/7 in 1 over. So, RCB beat GT by 5 wickets with 2 overs to spare. RCB joins CSK and MI as the only teams to defend their title and win back-to-back titles.
So, with RCB winning the match and the tournament for the second time in their decorated history. With this, IPL 2026 came to an end.
Also Read:Â RCB vs GT: Rasikh Salam Dar & Co Restrict GT To Par Score