RCB vs GT Highlights, IPL Qualifier 1: RCB reach back-to-back finals with thumping 92-run win, destroy GT in all phases

RCB vs GT LIVE Score, IPL Qualifier 1: RCB are through to the finals!

RCB vs GT Highlights, IPL Qualifier 1: Rajat Patidar with a phenomenal captain's knock in Dharamshala, giving RCB plenty of momentum towards the back end of the innings, having come in with his team in a tricky position. Hits a flurry of sixes to score 93*(33) in one of the great IPL playoff innings, pushing his team to 254/5.

Two months and 70 matches later, we have made it. A gruelling league stage schedule to figure out who would make the ranks in the top 4 to make it to the playoff stage, for a chance at lifting that IPL trophy, and the last stretch of that journey, the most significant stretch, begins in the heights of the Himalayas tonight. Indian cricket’s king Virat Kohli meeting his much-touted Prince, Shubman Gill, as stars and superstars of the spot prepare for battle knowing that they are but two more wins away from lifting that trophy.

Under Rajat Patidar, RCB have continued the good work they did in 2025 for their inaugural trophy. The narrative weight of that first title, with all its emotions and significance, has settled into the history of the team – but for the first time in six years, they are invested in being the team that goes back-to-back with title wins.

They come across a team that came within literal inches of achieving that in 2023 – Gujarat Titans, since their inception, have missed the playoffs only once in five seasons. Last year, despite having the Orange Cap and Purple Cap holders in their team, they fell short in the Eliminator. This year, they have two bites at the cherry, but will want to ensure they don’t need to use those.

In a year that has been all about powerplay batting and explosive starts at the very top, the two teams in Qualifier 1 don’t have the most dynamic and powerful opening bats, necessarily. But between Kohli, Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Phil Salt, they have batters who can go at 170-180+ with utmost ease, risk-free and with comfort to set up the base for their true strength to take advantage of.

That advantage being the powerplay bowling – in a season defined by that batting power, the teams who are able to contain the damage and cause enough of their own are automatically those that taste the most success. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kagiso Rabada are tied on 24 wickets thus far in the season, and removing the opposition’s best batters before they can sink their teeth into games is a big reason for why the teams have done well. Add to this names like Josh Hazlewood and Mohammed Siraj, and you can see why these teams have made it to the top two.

But neither team is perfect, and that’s what makes this a really engrossing contest. GT continue to be top-heavy, even in a season where Washington Sundar has impressed in the middle order: if you can make early inroads, there is every chance that pressure can be piled onto them. Equally, RCB’s own middle-overs bowling has shown signs of creaking, with the likes of Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya not having the same kind of year as they did last year. How the GT batting powerplay goes could be crucial.

So a spot in the finals on the line – RCB going for back-to-back appearances, GT hunting for a third in five years. An appetising start to a big week in the hot Indian summer.