Krunal Pandya’s unconventional spin bowling has been much talked about in IPL 2026. On Friday, he decided to show his batting skills with a valiant 23 off 12 balls in the closing stages as Royal Challengers Bengaluru chased down 206 with seven balls remaining against Gujarat Titans at the Chinnaswamy.
Krunal and Tim David added 33 off 20 balls in an unbroken stand in a crucial phase to pull it off comfortably. The five-wicket victory was RCB’s fifth in seven matches.
The home team lost Jacob Bethell early in their chase but Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal made the most of the Titans’ insipid middle-over bowling. Kohli, who got an early life, and Padikkal added 115 off 59 balls in a superb exhibition of strokeplay which left Titans captain Shubman Gill clueless.
Kohli made 81 off 44 balls with eight boundaries and four sixes while Padikkal contributed 55 off 27 balls.
RCB got going and were fearless in their approach. Even three quick wickets towards the end never forced them to curb their natural instincts. The defending champions are looking invincible, and have shown the promise that they can go ahead and do it all over again.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru's Devdutt Padikkal being bowled by Gujarat Titans' Rashid Khan during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 T20 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, in Bengaluru. (PTI)
The Titans are increasingly being let down by their middle order which has failed to fire. A good opening stand with Sai Sudharsan reaching his third IPL century meant nothing as RCB crawled back with quick wickets. The lack of tempo in the Titans’ innings will continue to haunt them and their middle order needs to adapt to a more aggressive brand of cricket.
Sudharsan century
Sudharsan showed his class and technique in a fine century as the Titans reached 205/3. They were 121/0 after 12 overs and failed to accelerate in the later stages.
RCB pulled things back in nice fashion, although they ended up conceding an expensive final over. Sudharsan’s departure affected the Titans’ flow in the death overs.
In the overs between 17 — GT were 174/2 at that stage — and 20, the Titans could garner only 31 runs and there were not too many boundaries as well.
It was mainly because of team debutant Jason Holder’s cameo (23 not out off 10 balls) that they crossed the 200 mark.
Opening stand
For most of this IPL season, Sudharsan has lived in the shadows of his more illustrious teammates. A unsuccessful Test tour of England has put him out of the reckoning for a national berth for the time being.
But he has learnt to live up to challenges. Having gone back to the drawing board, he showed again on Friday that he has it in him to achieve success in the shortest format too.
Bhuvaneshwar Kumar’s early lateral movement did trouble him but Sudharsan quickly got into his stride, steering and punching through covers. Even Josh Hazlewood wasn’t spared as Sudharsan smashed him for two boundaries and a six over point in the fifth over.
Sudharsan moved to 41 off 27 balls when Gill had faced just three deliveries in the Powerplay. The left-hander totally dominated the 128-run partnership with the captain.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar turned to Krunal to check the flow of runs and the left-arm spinner bowled around the wicket to Sudharsan. Once Romario Shepherd was brought into the attack, Sudharsan scooped him over fine leg for a six to bring up his half-century off 33 balls.
Sudharsan continued his big-hitting ways as the RCB bowlers failed to trouble him. Krunal tried his trademark bouncer to keep Sudharsan quiet, but he proved equal to the task, upper cutting it over backward point for a six. He finally completed his century off 57 balls, his third in the IPL.