Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) completed a dominant campaign with a second straight title as they defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2026) final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 31), with Virat Kohli playing another match-winning knock despite battling with an injury. The Rajat Patidar-led side has become just the third team to defend the trophy after Chennai Super Kings (2010 and 2011 under MS Dhoni) and Mumbai Indians (2019 and 2020 under Rohit Sharma).
Patidar won the toss and chose to bowl. The RCB bowling attack continued their incredible season, restricting the Gujarat Titans to just 155/8. The star-studded opening duo of Shubman Gill (10) and Sai Sudharsan (8) fell against experienced Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood.
Apart from Washington Sundar (50 off 37), no Titans batter made more than 20 runs. Rasikh Salman Dar (3-27) was the pick of the Bengaluru bowlers, while Bhuvneshwar (2-27) and Hazlewood (2-37) got two wickets each. Krunal Pandya (1-23) bowled another economical spell, which included the important wicket of Jos Buttler.
Virat Kohli Shines In Run Chase
RCB’s innings proved to be another instance of Kohli showing his class in a run chase as the Bengaluru-based outfit reached the target with 12 balls to spare. Venkatesh Iyer (32 off 16) played another important knock as the defending champions got past the 50-run mark in just 3.3 overs. Kohli reached his half-century in 26 balls despite wickets falling around him. This marked the quickest instance of the 37-year-old reaching the milestone in his IPL career.
Tim David (24 of 17) played a valuable cameo while Kohli stayed unbeaten with 75 off 42 balls. He hit the winning runs with a six on the last ball of the 18th over.
RCB’s Historic Title
The result means RCB are the third team after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) to defend their title. They are only the fourth team, after the above-mentioned two sides and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), to win the title multiple times.
Meanwhile, the franchise has become the first to lift both the men’s IPL and the Women’s Premier League (WPL) trophies in the same calendar year. After Smriti Mandhana’s side lifted the trophy earlier this year, they became the first club to hold both trophies at the same time.
