Kohli’s 81 Powers RCB to Thrilling Chase Against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026
Royal Challengers Bengaluru secured a strong win in their final home match of the season. They chased down the target confidently, winning by 5 wickets with 7 balls remaining. This marks their 5th victory of the campaign and moves them up to 2nd place on the points table.
Earlier in the day, RCB won the toss and opted to chase. Gujarat Titans came out all guns blazing, with Sai Sudharsan taking most of the strike in the powerplay and finding the boundaries regularly, while Shubman Gill played the perfect supporting role. GT were well placed at 57/0 after 6 overs. The duo continued to dominate post the powerplay, rotating strike nicely and keeping the scoreboard ticking.
RCB Clinch 5-Wicket Win to Climb to Second Spot
Sudharsan was the standout performer, producing a special innings and bringing up a magnificent hundred off just 57 balls. The opening stand was finally broken in the 13th over by Suyash Sharma, who dismissed Gill for 32. Contributions from Jos Buttler (25), Jason Holder (23*) and Washington Sundar (19*) added valuable runs down the order, but Sudharsan (100 off 58) remained the backbone of the innings. RCB did well to pull things back in the death overs, restricting GT to 205/3 from their 20 overs.
In reply, RCB had an early scare as Virat Kohli was dropped for a duck by Sundar in the very first over. Kohli made the Titans pay dearly for that miss. Despite losing Jacob Bethell early for 14, Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal took control of the chase. They went on the attack during the powerplay, shifting the momentum firmly in RCB’s favour as they reached 58/1 after 6 overs.
Padikkal looked in sublime touch, playing some exquisite strokes and racing to a quickfire half-century off just 20 balls before being cleaned up by Rashid Khan for 55 off 27 balls. Kohli continued his aggressive approach, going on a rampage, but fell short of a hundred as Holder dismissed him for 81 off 44 balls after being hit for consecutive sixes.
RCB suffered a brief wobble, slipping from 141/1 to 173/5, giving GT a glimmer of hope. However, Krunal Pandya (23*) and Tim David (10*) held their nerve and guided the chase expertly, finishing the job in the penultimate over. Royal Challengers Bengaluru sealed the win by 5 wickets with 7 balls to spare.
