IPL Final 2026: RCB thrash Gujarat Titans to win second title as Virat Kohli spearheads thrilling chase

Ahmedabad: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) dominate Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026 Final to win second Indian Premier League title. Royal Challengers Bangalore have claimed the title for the second time, defeating their opponents by 5 wickets in the IPL 2026 final held in Ahmedabad. RCB has thus become the third team in history to win back-to-back IPL trophies. In the final, RCB successfully chased down the target of 156 runs set by GT, losing just 5 wickets in the process.

What happened during IPL Final 2026?

During the match, RCB captain Rajat Patidar won the toss and elected to bowl first—a decision that proved to be spot on. Hazlewood and Bhuvi dismissed Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan early in the innings; while Sai was dismissed after scoring 12 runs, Gill contributed 10 runs. Subsequently, Buttler was also dismissed cheaply, stumped by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma off the bowling of Krunal Pandya. Throughout the match, GT continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, and the entire team could only manage to post a total of 155 runs for the loss of 8 wickets within their allotted 20 overs. During this challenging phase, Washington Sundar emerged as the standout performer for GT, scoring 50 runs off 37 balls, aided by five boundaries.

How did the RCB chase go?

Chasing a target of 156, the RCB team got off to a blistering start. Venkatesh Iyer, having scored 32 runs off just 16 balls, was caught by Rabada off Siraj's bowling. Next to the crease, Devdutt Padikkal was dismissed for a mere 1 run off Kagiso Rabada's bowling; this marked Rabada's 29th wicket of this IPL season. RCB lost their third wicket at the score of 89 in the form of Rajat Patidar (15), who was dismissed by Rashid Khan in his very first over. Subsequently, in the same over, Khan dealt RCB a fourth blow by dismissing Krunal Pandya. Thus, the match turned into a thrilling contest.

However, Virat Kohli held firm at one end and smashed a fifty off just 25 balls—his fastest IPL half-century to date. As the RCB team neared the target, Tim David (24) fell victim to Arshad Khan. With David's dismissal, RCB's score stood at 132/5. Nevertheless, Jitesh Sharma (11 not out) and Virat Kohli (75 not out) ensured victory for their team before returning to the dugout. For Gujarat, Rashid Khan was the most successful bowler, claiming 2 wickets.

How did Gujarat Titans batters perform?

In the IPL final, the Gujarat team opted to bat first. For Gujarat, only Washington Sundar (50 not out) managed to bat with stability. Gujarat endured a disastrous start, suffering their first blow at the score of 22 when Captain Shubman Gill (10) was dismissed; Gill was caught by Rajat Patidar off Josh Hazlewood's bowling. At a score of 26, Sai Sudharsan (12) was also dismissed off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bowling. Next to come in was Nishant Sindhu; he was playing a steady innings, but he too was caught by Devdutt Padikkal off the bowling of Rasikh Salam Dar after scoring 20 runs.

With Sindhu's dismissal, Gujarat's score stood at 55/3. Gujarat's fourth wicket fell in the form of Jos Buttler (19), at which point the team's total was 73. In fact, Gujarat's performance in this match seemed to follow a pattern of "one goes, and the next follows immediately." The fifth wicket was that of Arshad Khan, who was dismissed after a brief but aggressive cameo, scoring 15 runs off just 6 balls. Following Arshad's dismissal, Gujarat's score moved to 99/5.

Rahul Tewatia, who came in next, also departed after scoring just 7 runs, becoming the sixth wicket to fall for the Gujarat team. The seventh wicket was that of Jason Holder, who fell victim to Bhuvneshwar Kumar after scoring 7 runs. With this dismissal, Bhuvneshwar completed his 28th wicket in the IPL. The final batsman to be dismissed for Gujarat was Rashid Khan, who scored 7 runs. For RCB, Rasikh Salam Dar was the most successful bowler, claiming 3 wickets. Meanwhile, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood took 2 wickets each, while Krunal Pandya claimed one wicket.