01 June,2026 09:44 AM IST | Ahmedabad | Agencies
RCB’s Virat Kohli en route his 42-ball 75 not out on Sunday. Pic/PTI
Star batter Virat Kohli brought all his experience to the fore as he used his willow to perfection, guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second straight Indian Premier League title at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
Kohli constructed a brilliant unbeaten 75 off 42 balls as the defending champions beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets. The opener's innings was laced with nine fours and three sixes. Kohli did not let the pressure get to him despite RCB losing Devdutt Padikkal (1), Rajat Patidar (15), and Krunal Pandya (1) in the middle phase.
Earlier, RCB bowlers did well to first restrict a lethargic GT to a below-par 155-8 after putting them in to bat.
Shot-making was not exactly an easy proposition on the pitch No. 6 here, a mix of red and black soil, and it aptly reflected in the GT batting. Washington Sundar resisted the trend with an unbeaten 50 off 37 balls (5x4s), but the damage around him was far too big to mitigate. The fatigue of playing Qualifier 2 on Friday and a delayed departure because of inclement weather at Mullanpur also might have added to their list of woes. But none of that should not take any credit away from the RCB bowlers, who, more often than not, found the correct lengths on this deck.
GT needed skipper Shubman Gill and his opening partner B Sai Sudharsan to fire upfront, but they failed in that endeavour. A steady beginning was not alien to GT openers, but Gill's swat off Josh Hazlewood (2-37) took the leading edge of his bat to create a simple catch for his opposite number Rajat Patidar.
Sudharsan, who was once saved by DRS from being caught behind off Jacob Duffy, did not last long either. The left-hander's woeful pull off a well-directed high and wide bouncer by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-29) did not travel beyond a running-in stumper Jitesh Sharma.
After losing their two main batters, who have amassed over 700 runs each this season, the GT batting lost its rudders, ending an underwhelming Power Play phase at 45 for two, and there was no real fire or purpose in the rest of the batters to enact a recovery act.
Young RCB pacer Rasikh Salam Dhar (3-27) continued his impressive run behind lead bowlers Bhuvneshwar and Hazlewood, picked up the wickets of an out-of-sync Nishant Sindhu (20 off 18 balls) and Rahul Tewatia as the home side lost the cream of its batting line-up even before reaching 100.
12.4
No. of overs taken by GT to hit their first six on Sunday - the longest time taken by any team to clear the ropes in IPL-19
20
No. of wickets claimed by Kagiso Rabada in the Powerplay - the most by any player in an IPL edition
45
No. of runs scored by GT in the Powerplay - their second-lowest this season
25
No. of balls taken by Virat Kohli to reach his fifty - his fastest-ever IPL half-century
3
RCB are the third team to win back-to-back IPL titles after Chennai Super Kings (2010 & 2011) and Mumbai Indians (2019 & 2020)
3.3
No. of overs taken by RCB to reach 50 on Sunday - the fastest team fifty in an IPL final
16
Total number of players used by RCB - the fewest by any team in IPL-19
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