A year ago Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended an 18-season wait for a maiden IPL trophy. Tonight in Ahmedabad they did something they had never done before either — defend it. Gujarat Titans were beaten by eight wickets, Virat Kohli finished 75 not out, and the men in red walked off the Narendra Modi Stadium turf with back-to-back titles in their hands.
How the final played out
Rajat Patidar won the toss and did the only thing he was ever going to do on a sticky, slightly two-paced Ahmedabad surface: he chose to bowl. Within four overs that call looked inspired. Shubman Gill, Gujarat's captain, edged a lifter to second slip. Sai Sudharsan, who had been the tournament's most consistent top-order batter, was strangled down the leg side trying to glance Rasikh Dar. Jos Buttler holed out at long-on for 12, attempting to break a quiet phase that had stretched too long. By the halfway point of the innings Gujarat had limped to 64 for four with three of their best four batters back.
The middle order tried. Rahul Tewatia made 36, the kind of grinding, shuffling innings Tewatia has built a career on, and Rashid Khan flayed a couple over deep midwicket late on. But Rasikh Dar returned to bowl his final spell with two wickets in two balls, and Gujarat finished on 156 all out from the last ball of their 20 overs. On a ground that has repeatedly produced 180-plus chases under lights in this tournament, 156 felt at least 25 short.
Kohli, again
Defending 157 against a team that has Virat Kohli at the top of the order was always going to require everything Gujarat had. It turned out they did not have nearly enough. Kohli opened with Phil Salt, watched his partner sky a slog-sweep in the fourth over, and then settled in with the calm of a man who has played this innings a hundred times.
He found gaps square of the wicket against the new ball. He used his feet to Rashid Khan, taking a length ball over long-on for the shot of the night. He brought up his fifty from 28 deliveries, the fastest of his IPL career and the first time in a final he has reached the mark inside the powerplay-plus-two-overs window. By the time he met Rajat Patidar in the middle for a measured 79-run partnership, the chase had stopped being a contest.
Patidar fell with 14 still needed but Jitesh Sharma finished the job in three balls. Kohli's winning shot — a flat-batted six over long-on off Arshad Khan — went into the second tier, and the cupping gesture to the crowd that has become his signature followed.
Three numbers that tell the story
- 3 for 32 — Rasikh Dar. The young seamer was Bengaluru's most economical bowler all night and removed two of Gujarat's top three. He has now taken eight wickets across the playoffs.
- 75* off 47 — Virat Kohli. His third 50-plus score in an IPL final and his first in a winning chase. Strike rate north of 159 in conditions where the rest of the match averaged closer to 130.
- 2 — RCB's IPL trophy count. They lifted their first last May and are the third franchise after Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians to win consecutive seasons.
What this means for RCB
Last year's title felt like catharsis. Bengaluru had spent close to two decades being the team that turned up to the final and lost it, the team whose best players retired with the trophy still missing from their shelves. Winning it once was a wound healed.
This one is different. Back-to-back puts RCB in a much smaller club and changes the conversation around the squad: from heart-on-sleeve underachievers to a properly built T20 dynasty in the making. The bowling unit that Andy Flower has assembled — Rasikh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yash Dayal and a smart spin pairing of Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma — is doing the unsexy work of winning playoff games when the pitch is awkward and the lights are bright. Kohli, at 37, is still batting at the level he has always batted at. That is not a small thing.
What this means for Gujarat
Gujarat have made the playoffs in four of their five IPL seasons and have now lost two finals in three years. The blueprint is good. The recruitment is sharp. The captain is one of the most marketable players in world cricket. But the final has now twice slipped through their fingers and the reasons are not mysterious — when a batting group this top-heavy has a bad evening, there is no second wave to dig them out.
Expect a quiet review around the middle order in particular. Tewatia will keep his role. The question is who hits the long sixes around him.
What comes next
Several of the players on the field tonight are straight onto national duty. England, Australia and India all have international fixtures inside the next ten days, with the build-up to a busy global calendar already underway. Kohli is expected to take a short break before re-joining India's red-ball setup. RCB's domestic celebrations will continue through the week.
For everything else still happening across the sporting weekend — tennis at Roland-Garros, the run-in to the NBA Finals, NHL Cup Final preparation — head to today's cricket scores or the rest of the blog.
FAQ
What was the final score of the IPL 2026 final? Gujarat Titans 156 all out. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 157 for 2 in 18.3 overs. RCB won by eight wickets.
Who was named Player of the Match? Virat Kohli, for his unbeaten 75 off 47 that anchored the chase.
Is this RCB's first back-to-back title? Yes. They won their maiden title in 2025 and have now defended it in 2026, becoming the third franchise to win consecutive seasons.
Where was the final played? The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, the world's largest cricket ground, in front of a crowd that filled most of the lower tiers in red.