After Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood combined to dismiss Gujarat Titans’ (GT) two openers, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, within the first six overs of the 2026 final, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) became the first IPL team in history to take 35 powerplay wickets in a single IPL season. The Mumbai Indians (2013) and the RCB (2023) shared the previous record of 33. Gujarat Titans may surpass RCB’s record by taking three more wickets in the second innings at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They have already claimed 33 wickets in this season’s powerplay overs.
Bhuvi And Hazlewood Get The Better Of GT Openers
Gill and Sudharsan have been the top duo of the ongoing IPL 2026 season. They had already set the record for the most 100-plus stands in the history of the IPL and were on the verge of becoming the first Indian duo to amass 3000 runs together. In the third over, Gill was the first to fall. The GT captain hit a standard short-arm jab for a four at mid-wicket after Hazlewood bowled a short-of-length delivery on the first ball.
The next ball, Hazlewood bowled something similar but faster. At mid-off, it bounced slightly higher and grew big on Gill, taking a top-edge for his opposite number, Rajat Patidar, for an easy catch. Then, using the same strategy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Sudharsan. Similar to Hazlewood, the bowler threw two successive bouncers, the second of which took the batter by surprise and caused him to edge it over and across the wicketkeeper. Jitesh Sharma made no mistake collecting it.
Gill and Sudharsan had only been out within the power play four times, three of which had been against RCB. The Ahmedabad-based team never fully recovered from it and finished with 155/8 in the first innings, which was a major setback.
RCB eventually restricted GT to 155/8 in the summit clash. They now need to chase down a modest 156 to become the third team to win their second consecutive IPL title. They will also become the fourth team to win the prestigious title multiple times.
