Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener Venkatesh Iyer threw the first punch at the Gujarat Titans (GT) bowlers. However, he was soon outdone by the accuracy and experience of Kagiso Rabada as the RCB vs GT Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 got off on a thrilling note.
The top two teams of the league stage clashed at the beautiful HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala on Tuesday evening with a place in the final up for grabs.
RCB and GT both had recorded nine wins in 14 league games each, and so had the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), but the latter was pipped on net run rate.
Venkatesh replaced Jacob Bethell at the top in RCB’s penultimate league game and came into Qualifier 1 on the back of aggressive knocks that read 73* (40) and 44 (19).
On the other hand was one of the best new ball attacks in the tournament in Rabada and Mohammed Siraj. So the clash was set to be an exciting one, and it proved as well.
Iyer began RCB’s innings by cracking three fours off the first four deliveries from Siraj, each a cracking shot and signaling doom for GT.
The southpaw upped the ante in the next over by scooping Rabada over fine leg for a six. A shot that left everyone’s jaws hanging as Venkatesh moved to 19 off only 6 balls.
However, the fun for Venkatesh and RCB fans came to an end as Rabada brought out his most potent delivery: a hard-length ball on and outside the off-stump at high pace. RCB has taken so many wickets with exactly this sort of length, and he got rid of the red-hot Iyer as well.
Venkatesh gave himself a bit of room and attempted to take down a back of a length delivery at around 140 KPH from the tall South Africa. However, he completely mistimed his shot, and Shubman Gill, the GT captain, sprinted behind from mid-off to complete a good catch.
Kagiso Rabada enters IPL history books
This was Rabada’s 18th powerplay wicket of IPL 2026. With this dismissal, Rabada created a new record in IPL history.
Rabada surpassed Mohammed Shami’s record of 17 wickets in the powerplay in IPL 2023 and now holds the record for the most wickets in the powerplay in a single IPL season with 18 scalps. Incidentally, Shami achieved his feat for the Gujarat Titans in 2023, when GT finished as the runners-up.
Most wickets in the powerplay in an IPL season:
- Kagiso Rabada (2026) – 18 wickets*
- Mohammed Shami (2023) – 17 wickets
- Mitchell Johnson (2013) – 16 wickets
- Trent Boult (2020) – 16 wickets
Meanwhile, Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal also stepped on the accelerator. The duo took down Rabada, Siraj, and Holder to finish RCB’s powerplay with 76 runs. At the end of the sixth over, RCB’s score is 76/1, with Kohli batting on 34* (18) and Paddikal on 23 (11).
Rabada, meanwhile, became the leading wicket-taker of the season with 25 wickets, moving just ahead of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who has 24 wickets and will bowl later in the evening.
Earlier, GT skipper Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first.
RCB vs GT Teams:
GT (Playing XI): Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Nishant Sindhu, Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Kulwant Khejroliya, Kagiso Rabada, Rashid Khan, Prasidh Krishna
RCB (Playing XI): Venkatesh Iyer, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar (c), Jacob Duffy, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Devdutt Padikkal, Rasikh Salam Dar
RCB Impact subs: Suyash Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Abhinandan Singh, Kanishk Chouhan, Jordan Cox
GT Impact subs: Glenn Phillips, Rahul Tewatia, Kumar Kushagra, Anuj Rawat, Sai Kishore
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