New Delhi: A margin of 15 to 20 runs in the death overs often troubles teams and that was what happened when Gujarat Titans were asked to bat first by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.Despite a good start, the opening record was broken Shubman Gill The GT’s 205/3 ultimately felt below par as defending champions RCB began to chase.This was largely due to the three decisive overs from Suyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood who strangled the Titans at the death.three magic roundsAt the end of 16 overs, Gujarat Titans were in a favorable position with a record of 170/2, building on an excellent 128-run opening partnership between Sudharsan and Gill. With Jos Buttler and Washington Sundar in the lead and joined by firepower players like Jason Holder, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, GT’s total looks set to be over 230.But the end never came.Suyash Sharma played a superb 17th over, conceding only four runs and not allowing Buttler or Sundar to break free.Bhuvneshwar Kumar then struck a clinical 18th to take the crucial wicket of Buttler while conceding only 5 runs. The pressure has built and GT is now scrambling.Josh Hazlewood then struck again in the 19th over, conceding just eight runs, further closing the door on GT’s late surge.In the end, the Gujarat Titans made 18 boundary-less deliveries at the critical stage and were expected to explode.The total that once seemed over 230 has come down to 205 due to the RCB’s strict enforcement on deaths.Even captain Shubman Gill later admitted how decisive those overs were.“I think from 16 to 19, those three overs, we couldn’t get any boundaries, we didn’t score as many runs as we wanted. I think those three overs were very crucial 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 and I don’t think we were able to do that at the end of the powerplay,” Gill said in his post-match speech.Kohli survives early lifelineRCB’s chase may have been derailed early on, but Gujarat Titans missed a golden opportunity.Virat KohliIn the evening, he was dropped by Mohammad Siraj when Washington Sundar had a chance straight at mid-wicket after an ill-timed flick.The mistake proved costly.Kohli made GT pay the full price, hitting 81 off 44 balls (including 8 fours and 4 sixes) at a strike rate of 184.09. He also matched up with Jason Holder for six consecutive runs in a commanding at-bat by Jason Holder.Kohli-Padikkal performance ended itDevdutt Padikkal and Kohli then combined for a game-defining 115-run stand for the second wicket, putting RCB firmly in control of the chase.Padikkal’s 55 and Kohli’s 81 ensured that RCB easily chased 206 in 18.5 overs to climb to second place in the points table with 10 points.
