New Delhi: A deficit of 15 to 20 runs in the death overs can often haunt teams, and Gujarat Titans experienced exactly that on Friday when Royal Challengers Bengaluru asked them to bat first in their IPL 2026 clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Despite a flying start and a record opening stand in between Shabman Gul And Sai Siddharsan, GT’s 205/3 finally felt level once defending champions RCB started their chase.Much of the credit goes to the three determined overs by Swish Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, who killed the Titans.Three magical oversAt the end of 16 overs, Gujarat Titans were well placed at 170/2, built on a brilliant opening partnership of 128 runs between Sudharsan and Gill. With Jos Buttler and Washington Sundar at the crease and with firepower like Jason Holder, Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Tivat and Rashid Khan, GT were looking at a total of over 230.But completion never came.Suyash Sharma bowled a brilliant 17th over, conceding just four runs and not letting Buttler or Sundar get off.Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed this up with a clinical 18th over, giving away just five runs to attack Buttler’s crucial wicket. The pressure had already built, and the GT was now mixing.Josh Hazlewood then struck another blow in the 19th over, conceding just eight runs to further close the door on GT’s late surge.In the end, the Gujarat Titans hit 18 balls without a boundary at a crucial stage, when they were expected to explode.What once looked like a total of 230 was pulled back to 205, thanks to RCB’s disciplined execution at the death.Even skipper Shubman Gill later admitted how decisive those overs were.“I think from 16 to 19, in those three overs we didn’t hit any boundaries and we didn’t get as many runs as we wanted. I think those three overs were very important for us. I mean at the end of the powerplay, I think we were in a good position. It was all about taking wickets in the middle overs, which I said after the G-over we could have powered through.” Post-match presentationKohli survived the early lifeline.RCB’s chase could have been derailed in the first over, but the Gujarat Titans missed a golden opportunity.Virat KohliWith no loss, Mohammad Siraj was dropped when Washington Sundar mistimed a flick and squandered a straightforward chance at midwicket.That miss proved to be very costly.Kohli scored 81 runs off 44 balls including eight fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 184.09. He also took on Jason Holder with back-to-back sixes during his commanding innings.The Kohli-Pedical show seals it.Devdutt Padikal and Kohli then put on a match-defining partnership of 115 runs for the second wicket, keeping RCB firmly in check in the chase.Padikal’s 55 and Kohli’s 81 ensured that RCB comfortably chased down 206 in 18.5 overs, finishing second on the points table with 10 points.
