Kohli, Padikkal lead Bengaluru to five-wicket win over Gujarat

Veteran Virat Kohli (81) and Devdutt Padikkal (55) led a strong charge as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) surged to a five-wicket victory over the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Match 34 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.

RCB’s reply got a lucky break early on when Kohli, trying his signature flick off Mohammed Siraj, hit it too high and was dropped by Washington Sundar at short midwicket. This mistake proved costly.

Kohli quickly found his rhythm, while Impact Player Jacob Bethell had a brief moment of luck before he edged one to backward point and fell to Kagiso Rabada.

Padikkal wasted no time making an impact. He took on Rabada’s pace, which was clocked at 153.6 kph, hitting a six over deep square leg. He then punished Siraj for his mistakes with boundaries and a lofted six over extra cover. Kohli joined in soon after, stepping down the track against Rabada and scoring his 800th IPL four, becoming the first batter to hit this milestone.

The momentum swung as Padikkal dominated the middle overs, taking apart Prasidh Krishna with a series of boundaries and sixes, including a flick, a pull, and a loft over long-off. He then targeted Rashid Khan, launching him for six over long-off and sweeping for another six, bringing up a blazing half-century off just 30 balls. At one point, he raced to 50 in only 20 deliveries.

Kohli made the most of his early chance. He reached a significant milestone by pulling Rashid for his 300th IPL six, joining an elite group behind only Rohit Sharma and Chris Gayle. Not willing to take a back seat, Kohli attacked Rabada, hitting a flick for four and a towering six over deep midwicket, which kept the required rate manageable.

Padikkal’s innings ended on 55 off 27 balls when Rashid fooled him with a googly that clipped the bails. However, Kohli continued, taking on Jason Holder with two consecutive sixes—one a powerful flick over deep midwicket and the other lofted over mid-off.

The veteran eventually fell for 81 off 44 balls, chopping a slower ball from Holder onto his stumps. By then, RCB had taken control of the chase, scoring quickly and staying well ahead in their pursuit.

Earlier, the Gujarat Titans set a competitive total of 205/3, highlighted by a brilliant century by Sai Sudharsan. The left-hander overcame a tough start against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, who both extracted movement and bounce, before seizing control as the conditions improved. Sudharsan raced to 41 off 27 balls, helping GT to 57/0 in the powerplay.

He reached his half-century in 33 balls and continued to dominate the middle overs with a mix of creative strokes and calculated aggression. A standout moment occurred when he uppercut Krunal Pandya for six and followed it with a slog sweep to reach his 2000th IPL run, becoming the fastest to this milestone in 47 innings, ahead of Gayle, Shaun Marsh, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and KL Rahul.

Sudharsan eventually fell for an excellent 100 off 58 balls to Hazlewood, ending hopes for a late surge. Contributions from Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, along with a late push from Holder and Washington Sundar, ensured GT crossed the 200-mark. However, RCB’s aggressive response, led by Kohli and Padikkal, kept them ahead in what became a high-scoring contest.

Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma tried to end things quickly by hitting sixes off Rashid Khan, but the leg-spinner fought back by having Jitesh caught in the covers.

From the other end, left-arm spinner Manav Suthar tricked Patidar in the air, getting him to hit a miscue to extra cover and leaving RCB five down.

Krunal Pandya took charge just when the chase looked like it might fall apart. In the 18th over, he hit back-to-back boundaries and then a huge six over deep midwicket to start a decisive counterattack against Suthar.

Krunal’s unbeaten 23 off 12 balls, which included 17 runs in the over, helped RCB win the game by five wickets.

Indo-Asian News Service

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 205/3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Suyash Sharma 1-36) lost to Royal Challengers Bengaluru 206/5 in 18.5 overs (Virat Kohli 81, Devdutt Padikkal 55; Rashid Khan 2-49, Jason Holder 1-28) by five wickets.