Royal Challengers Bengaluru Defeats Gujarat Titans by 92 Runs in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1

Dharamshala. Royal Challengers Bengaluru has secured a ticket to the final by defeating Gujarat Titans by a huge margin of 92 runs in the first qualifier match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. 

Gujarat could not stay in the game chasing the huge target of 255 runs set by Bengaluru. 

Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar batted excellently to take Bengaluru towards a huge total. Kohli contributed 43 runs in 25 balls, while Patidar played an excellent unbeaten innings of 93 runs in just 33 balls with aggressive batting. 

Similarly, Jos Buttler also played a short but useful innings of 29 runs in 11 balls. Gujarat bowler Jason Holder took 2 wickets for 39 runs by dismissing Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal in the same over.

Although the match was one-sided, the race for the Orange and Purple caps made the game very exciting. A tough competition was seen between the top contenders for the Purple Cap, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kagiso Rabada. Both bowlers started the game with 24-24 wickets, and by the end of the game, both had 26-26 wickets in their accounts. 

Gujarat bowler Rabada took the wickets of Venkatesh Iyer and Krunal Pandya, but he proved very expensive. Rabada conceded 54 runs in his 4 overs at an economy rate of 13.50. 

On the other hand, this night was pleasant for Bengaluru's Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He took only 28 runs in 4 overs, dismissing Shubman Gill and Rahul Tewatia, taking 2 wickets. 

Bhuvneshwar has retained the Purple Cap based on the best economy rate, as Bhuvneshwar's economy rate this season is 8.00 and Rabada's is 9.48. Bengaluru's change bowler, fast bowler Yash Dayal, also took 2 wickets for 24 runs, reaching 10th place with his total wicket count of 16, while Holder is in 12th place with 15 wickets.

For Gujarat openers B Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, this day was not memorable in the race for the Orange Cap. In the match, Sudharsan scored only 14 and Gill scored only 2 runs. However, due to their excellent performance throughout the season, they still remain at the top of the table.

Sai Sudharsan is first with 652 runs and Gill is second with 618 runs. With his performance in this match, Bengaluru's Virat Kohli has reached a total of 600 runs. He has moved up to fourth place in the table, surpassing Delhi Capitals' KL Rahul.

Sunrisers Hyderabad's Heinrich Klaasen is in third place. Similarly, Jos Buttler is in 12th place with 498 runs, and the man of the match, Rajat Patidar, has reached 14th place with 486 runs.