Gujarat Titans Reach IPL 2026 Final After Defeating Rajasthan Royals

Chandigarh. Gujarat Titans have reached the IPL final for the third time. The team defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in 'Qualifier-2'.

Now on May 31, Gujarat will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final to be held in Ahmedabad.

Batting first on Friday at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in Mullanpur, Rajasthan scored 214 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. In response, Gujarat completed the target by losing 3 wickets in 18.4 overs. This is Gujarat's biggest successful 'run chase' in the IPL. The previous biggest successful run chase was 204 runs.

• Gill's captain's innings of 104 runs

The hero of Gujarat's victory was Shubman Gill. He played a captain's innings of 104 runs off 53 balls. His innings included 15 fours and 3 sixes. Similarly, Sai Sudharsan also scored 58 runs off 32 balls. A partnership of 167 runs for the first wicket was formed between these two. This completely pushed Rajasthan to the back foot.

Sudharsan was out 'hit wicket' for the second consecutive match. Gill was out LBW by Jofra Archer. Then Washington Sundar played a quick innings of 16 runs. In the end, Rahul Tewatia finished the game by hitting a six off 9 balls, remaining unbeaten on 17 runs. Jos Buttler returned unbeaten on 9 runs. Archer, Nandre Burger and Brijesh Sharma took 1 wicket each for Rajasthan.

• Suryavanshi scored 96 runs

Earlier, for Rajasthan Royals, Yashasvi Jaiswal was out for 1 run in the first over. Then Vaibhav Suryavanshi played an innings of 96 runs off 47 balls, which included 8 fours and 7 sixes.

Jadeja also played responsibly and scored an unbeaten 45 runs. In the middle order, Riyan Parag (11), Dasun Shanaka (3) and Jofra Archer (7) got out quickly. However, in the final overs, Donovan Ferreira hit an unbeaten 38 off just 11 balls.

His innings included 2 fours and 4 sixes. An unbeaten partnership of 42 runs between Ferreira and Jadeja took Rajasthan past the 200-run mark.

Kagiso Rabada and Jason Holder took 2 wickets each for Gujarat. Mohammad Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took 1 success each.

Gill's new record in playoffs, Suryavanshi's another height

Key statistics from the Qualifier-2 between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals:

• 215 - This target completed by Gujarat Titans against Rajasthan Royals is their biggest successful run chase in the IPL. Previously, they chased 205 runs against Delhi Capitals last year.
• 1 - This run chase by Gujarat is also the highest run chase by any team in an IPL playoff (or knockout) match. The previous highest record was 204 runs by Punjab Kings against Mumbai Indians in last year's 'Qualifier-2'.

This is also the second-highest target successfully chased by any team in a T20 cricket playoff (or knockout) match. Before this, Mumbai chased 222 runs against Vidarbha in the quarter-final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25.

• 1 - Shubman Gill has become the first batsman to score more than one century in IPL playoff (or knockout) matches. He scored his first such century against Mumbai in the 'Qualifier-2' in 2023 (129 runs).

Gill is also the first captain to score a century in an IPL playoff (or knockout). The previous highest score was David Warner's unbeaten 93 against Gujarat Lions in 2016 and Rajat Patidar's against Gujarat in IPL 2026 'Qualifier-1'.

• 11 - Number of partnerships of over 100 runs between Gill and B Sai Sudharsan in the IPL. This is the most partnerships by any pair. Their 11 century partnerships are also the highest by any pair in T20 cricket itself. They have had eight century partnerships for the opening wicket. This is also the joint highest record by any pair.
• 167 - The partnership between Gill and Sai Sudharsan is the highest partnership by any pair in an IPL playoff (or knockout) match. Previously, in the 2011 final, Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay had a partnership of 159 runs for the first wicket against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
• 440 - Number of balls faced by Vaibhav Suryavanshi to complete 1000 runs in the IPL. This is the fastest such figure in terms of balls faced. Previously, Andre Russell had achieved this feat fastest, facing 545 balls.
• 1000 Suryavanshi is jointly the second fastest batsman to complete 1000 IPL runs in terms of innings played. Shaun Marsh had crossed this figure in just 21 innings. Lendl Simmons took the same 23 innings as Suryavanshi.
• 135 - Total number of boundaries hit by Vaibhav Suryavanshi in IPL 2026, including a record 72 sixes. This is the most sixes hit by any batsman in any T20 competition. Previously, Buttler had hit 128 boundaries in IPL 2022, including 83 fours and 45 sixes.
• 3 - Number of times Vaibhav Suryavanshi has been out in the 90s (nervous nineties) in his last four innings. He is jointly at the top in terms of being out in the 90s in the IPL. He is only the second batsman after Glenn Maxwell in 2014 to be out in the 90s three times in the same season.
• 776 - Runs scored by Suryavanshi in IPL 2026. This is the fifth highest score by any batsman in a single season of the tournament. Also, this is the second highest total by any batsman for Rajasthan Royals after Jos Buttler's 863 runs in 2022.

Suryavanshi scored 193 runs out of those in the Eliminator and 'Qualifier-2' alone. Only Buttler (195 runs) has scored more runs in playoff and eliminator matches of the same IPL season in 2022.

• 3 - Number of batsmen who completed 700 runs in IPL 2026 on Friday (Suryavanshi, Gill and Sai Sudharsan). IPL 2026 has now become the first T20 tournament in which three batsmen have scored 700 or more runs.

Gill had previously scored more than 700 runs in 2023. Sai Sudharsan did the same in 2025. Chris Gayle (IPL 2012 and 2013) and Kohli (IPL 2016 and 2024) are the only other batsmen to achieve this feat in more than one season.

• 9 - Number of 50+ scores by Sai Sudharsan in IPL 2026. This is jointly the second most fifties/centuries by a batsman in a single season. Virat Kohli had done it 11 times in 2016. Warner had scored 50+ runs 9 times each in both 2016 and 2019.
• 3 - Number of times Sai Sudharsan has been out 'hit-wicket' in the IPL. This includes the two dismissals in the playoffs this year. In the IPL, no other batsman has been out hit-wicket more than once. In overall men's T20, only Andre Russell and Shoaib Malik have been out this way 3 times each.