Patidar’s unbeaten 93 fires RCB into 5th IPL final, thrash GT by 92 in Q1

Royal Challengers Bengaluru punched their way into a second straight IPL final and fifth overall, thumping Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Qualifier 1 at Dharamsala. Rajat Patidar’s unbeaten 93 off 33 powered RCB to 254/5, and then the bowling attack turned the chase into a rout, firing GT out for 162 all out in 19.3 overs despite Rahul Tewatia’s determined 68.

Brief scores and what they meant

RCB posted 254/5 in their 20 overs, driven by Patidar’s 93* (33) and strong support from Virat Kohli (43 off 25) and Krunal Pandya (43 off 28). Jason Holder finished with 2/39 as Gujarat Titans were restricted throughout. In reply, GT were bowled out for 162 in 19.3 overs, with Tewatia top-scoring on 68 (43) and Jos Buttler contributing 29 (11). Jacob Duffy took 3/39, Rasikh Salam Dar grabbed 2/24 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar ended with 2/28. RCB won by 92 runs.

Patidar was the match-winner, producing what could be the defining innings of his season. On 20 runs off 12 balls, he was reprieved when Kagiso Rabada dropped him. After that let-off, the defending champions surged forward, striking nine sixes in total, with Patidar’s 33-ball century push—93*—helping RCB reach a massive total. Gujarat had already lost momentum early, and that slim chance of a contest disappeared once the Powerplay losses piled up.

RCB’s innings: intent from ball one to a playoff record

1. RCB were sent in first, and Venkatesh Iyer made an immediate statement by driving Mohammed Siraj through the covers with the opening delivery.
2. Venkatesh kept finding boundary openings, while Rabada’s bounce unsettled Kohli in the second over. Venkatesh even ramped Rabada for six, but he fell soon after, top-edging a short ball to Shubman Gill at mid-off.
3. Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal then accelerated with lofted shots over mid-off, though Kohli’s timing was inconsistent during his stay, reflected in a 60 percent control rate. Padikkal, in contrast, punished both sides of the field, aided by a quick outfield.
4. RCB raced to 50 within the first four overs, forcing Gill to use a bowler other than Siraj or Rabada for the first time in eight matches during the Powerplay. A boundary off an overthrow summed up the frustrations in the opening phase.
5. Even when Rabada cut Kohli again in the sixth over, Kohli responded with a hook over the wicketkeeper’s head for a six, continuing RCB’s early dominance.
6. Rashid Khan entered in the eighth over, the first over of the innings without a boundary up to that point. Jason Holder then struck, dismissing Kohli after a cut to the line and an inside-edge continuation, and two balls later Padikkal edged behind, taking a review as Gujarat started to claw back.
7. From there, RCB only managed 23 runs in the four overs after the Powerplay, with Patidar and Krunal struggling to settle quickly—though occasional boundaries still arrived, including Krunal’s ramp over Prasidh Krishna.
8. The momentum flipped again in the 14th over when Rabada missed a chance at deep mid-wicket. This came just after Patidar survived with a leading edge that dropped into the deep third region.
9. Then came a decisive collapse for GT: Kulwant Khejroliya, making a surprise appearance in the season, started with three runs in his first over, but the 15th over unraveled quickly—featuring a beamer that went for four, a wide plus misfield off the free hits, and a front-foot no-ball. Patidar finished the over by striking fours on either side of a six.
10. Twenty-eight runs were added from that chaotic over, shifting the game firmly back to RCB’s side. Rashid immediately followed with three sixes in succession, suggesting Patidar’s shadow over the sequence had rattled the Titans’ plans.
11. Krunal fell in the middle of the surge, but Patidar accelerated, reaching a 21-ball half-century with another six. One particularly eye-catching shot came when he nonchalantly lofted a back-of-a-length delivery off Rabada over cover.
12. By the 16th over, RCB raced beyond 200. Prasidh struck with yorkers and accounted for Tim David, yet Patidar kept the pressure on, smashing three more sixes across the final two overs.
13. With Siraj taking part late—21 runs in the 19th over—Prasidh also delivered in the last over (20). Overall, RCB piled up 114 runs and hit 10 sixes in the final six overs, registering the highest playoff total in IPL history.

GT’s chase: pacers strike early and often

1. In response, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill set a fast start by sending the first two balls of the chase to the boundary, mirroring Venkatesh’s early statement from RCB’s innings.
2. However, the Orange Cap holder’s wicket arrived in the third over when he mistimed a cut to the fence, with his bat slipping on the follow-through and the ball deflecting onto the stumps.
3. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then got a breakthrough as Gill swung across the line, crashing the ball into the stumps for his 25th wicket of the season.
4. Jos Buttler tried to keep the chase alive, hitting a four and a six off Bhuvneshwar before adding boundaries against Josh Hazlewood. Hazlewood then used a disguised knuckle ball to remove Buttler, effectively putting the result beyond doubt.
5. GT lost two more in the Powerplay: Rasikh Salam Dar dismissed Nishant Sindhu caught and bowled, and Holder then struck soon after—while Kohli missed a run-out chance at the striker’s end.
6. That left Rahul Tewatia, who had not featured much with the bat through much of the season, to face the pressure in the Powerplay—an ominous sign for Gujarat’s chase.

Tewatia’s fightback delays the end, but RCB seal it in style

1. After the Powerplay, Tewatia began slowly and looked to grind the innings into shape, with Washington Sundar cutting a Jacob Duffy delivery to deep third and GT managing 70 in the first 10 overs.
2. That figure was already six runs fewer than what RCB scored in their Powerplay alone, underlining the scale of RCB’s dominance.
3. RCB showed control over the chase by not activating their Impact Sub until the start of the 12th over, a sign of how comfortably they were managing the game.
4. Rabada added a couple of boundaries, including a heave off a Krunal bouncer to Kohli at long on, while Romario Shepherd—RCB’s Impact Sub—had a tough time as Tewatia began to find rhythm with square-leg-heavy strokes.
5. Tewatia increased the pace of scoring by scooping Hazlewood, then swiping for a six, and using pace off the ball to land another boundary.
6. A similar shot carried him to his fifty, followed by a short-arm jab behind square, and for a moment it appeared Gujarat might bat out the full 20 overs.
7. Still, Patidar ended the resistance when he sprinted back at cover and took an excellent catch to dismiss Tewatia for 68, bringing the chase sharply back under RCB’s control.
8. The game went down to the final over, but Siraj struck late by swinging the ball high into the air. Tim David charged in from long off and completed a stunning sliding catch to seal RCB’s place in the final.

What happens next for both teams

RCB head to Ahmedabad and will wait for their opponent for Sunday’s title match. Gujarat Titans will stop at Mullanpur for Qualifier 2 on Friday, May 29, where they will take on the winner of the SRH–RR Eliminator.