Shubman Gill answered a knockout slugfest with an old-fashioned batting clinic. The Gujarat Titans captain hit 104 off 53 balls to chase down 215 against Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on Friday, sending his side into the IPL 2026 final with a seven-wicket win and 11 balls to spare. The Indian Premier League (IPL, India’s top Twenty20 competition) had rarely seen a playoff century built so completely on timing rather than muscle.
The night belonged, on paper, to brute force: a 15-year-old striking sixes off 150 kmph deliveries and a finisher who took 27 runs from a single over. Gujarat answered all of it by finding gaps. That is the part of this result worth slowing down for.
The Chase That Outclassed the Slugfest
Rajasthan piled up 214 for 6 on a used surface, a total that read like a knockout-winning score the moment it went up. In a do-or-die match, defending it should have been the simpler job. It was not close.
Gill and opening partner Sai Sudharsan put on 167 inside 12.5 overs, the biggest opening stand recorded in an IPL playoff. By the time the partnership broke, Gujarat needed barely a run a ball with most of their batting untouched. The target that had looked imposing under lights was effectively gone before the contest reached its back half.
Gujarat got home in 18.4 overs, completing the highest successful chase in the franchise’s history. They did it without a single agricultural slog from the top order, which is the detail that separated this win from most modern T20 run-fests.
Rajasthan had the bigger hitters on the night. Gujarat had the better batting, and in a knockout that gap decided everything.
A 47-Ball Hundred Built on Timing, Not Muscle
Gill reached three figures in 47 balls, the fastest century in IPL playoff history, eclipsing the 49-ball effort Rajat Patidar produced for Bengaluru in the 2022 season. The knock carried 15 fours and only three sixes, a ratio that tells the story by itself. This was a hundred of placement, late hands and footwork, not a clearing of the ropes.
The Method Behind the Numbers
The 26-year-old pulled Jofra Archer off the front and back foot despite the England quick’s extreme pace, then skipped down the pitch to the spinners to hit through the line. He kept finding the unprotected square boundaries and the long gaps at extra cover. Where Rajasthan’s batters had swung hard at the body, the Gujarat captain simply redirected good balls into open spaces, and the scoreboard ticked at the same rate without the risk. Archer eventually had him leg before wicket (lbw, trapped in front of the stumps), but only after the chase was won.
A Record List No Captain Owned Before
The innings rewrote several lines in the record book at once.
- 47 balls to a hundred, the quickest century in any IPL playoff match.
- First captain to score a century in an IPL playoff game.
- First batter ever to make multiple hundreds in IPL playoffs.
- His fifth IPL century overall, drawing him level with Sanju Samson on the all-time list.
That last fact carries a quiet irony, since Samson once led the Royals side now on the receiving end.
Sooryavanshi and Ferreira Lit the Powder, Rajasthan Still Lost
The power on display was real, and most of it came from Rajasthan. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15-year-old opener who has become the tournament’s biggest talking point, made 96 off 47 balls after walking in early with two wickets already down to Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada. He struggled for timing on a slow pitch as Gujarat hammered short balls into his body, then accelerated anyway, including a straight six off a 153 kmph Rabada delivery.
His night ended in the 90s for the second match running, caught at third man off Rabada attempting an upper cut. A century looked inevitable; it never came. Sai Sudharsan had dropped him on 46, a miss that briefly threatened to be very expensive.
Rajasthan’s other fireworks arrived at the death. Ravindra Jadeja, promoted to number four and nursing a tennis elbow that forced him to retire hurt before returning, anchored with an unbeaten 45 off 35. Then Donovan Ferreira plundered four sixes in a single Rashid Khan over to take 27 runs from it, one of the worst overs of the Afghan spinner’s T20 career, dragging the total past 210.
It was a batting performance that would have won most matches. Here are the moments that should have settled it:
- Sooryavanshi’s 96 off 47, the highest individual score of the match.
- Ferreira’s 27-run final over off Rashid Khan, four sixes in five legal balls.
- Jadeja’s composed 45 not out after a mid-innings injury scare.
None of it mattered once the chase began.
Sudharsan’s Quiet 58 and the Record Stand
Gill needed a partner who would not slow the rate, and Sudharsan gave him exactly that with 58 off 32 balls. The left-hander has been Gujarat’s other run engine all season, and his strike rotation kept Rajasthan’s bowlers from ever building pressure from one end.
His dismissal was the night’s oddity. For the second game in a row, Sudharsan lost grip of his bat mid-stroke and ended up hit wicket, a freak way to fall that did nothing to dent the platform he had already laid. By then the stand had broken every playoff opening-partnership mark in the competition’s history and made the rest a formality.
Three Finals in Five Seasons for Gujarat
This result extended a record of consistency that few franchises can match. Since entering the league in 2022, Gujarat have now reached the final three times in five seasons, having won the title in their debut campaign.
Gill has scored 722 runs this season at a strike rate around 163, while Sudharsan sits close behind on 710 at 159. Rabada holds the Purple Cap for the leading wicket-taker with 28. A team that is often described as functional rather than flashy has quietly built one of the strongest top orders and bowling attacks of the campaign.
You can track the full season batting and bowling charts on the league’s official site, where Gujarat’s names sit near the top of both columns.
Bengaluru Await a Rematch They Already Won Once
The reward for the record chase is a final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB, the defending champions) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. It is a rematch loaded with recent history, and not the kind Gujarat will enjoy remembering.
The 92-Run Lesson From Qualifier 1
Bengaluru finished top of the league table and reached the final the harder-looking but easier way, beating Gujarat by 92 runs in Qualifier 1, with captain Rajat Patidar smashing 93 off 33 balls. Virat Kohli has 600 runs this season at a strike rate of 164, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar leads the seam attack with 26 wickets. The overall head-to-head reads nine meetings, five to Bengaluru and four to Gujarat. RCB’s route to a second straight crown runs through a side they dismantled only days earlier.
Home Crowd Versus Championship Pedigree
What swings back toward Gujarat is the venue. The final is on their own ground, and a packed Ahmedabad house behind a captain in this kind of touch changes the math of any chase or defence. The table below sets the two finalists side by side.
| Marker | Gujarat Titans | Royal Challengers Bengaluru |
|---|---|---|
| Route to final | Won Qualifier 2 vs Rajasthan | Won Qualifier 1 vs Gujarat |
| Top batter (season runs) | Shubman Gill, 722 | Virat Kohli, 600 |
| Lead bowler (wickets) | Kagiso Rabada, 28 | Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 26 |
| Last meeting | Lost by 92 runs | Won by 92 runs |
| Final venue | Home (Ahmedabad) | Away |
Gujarat’s official final preview and head-to-head breakdown leans on that home comfort, while the IPL 2026 points table is a reminder that Bengaluru topped the standings for a reason.
If Gill carries Friday’s touch into Sunday, the home side has the batting to erase the memory of that 92-run beating. If Bengaluru’s seamers find the lengths that strangled Gujarat in Qualifier 1, the defending champions walk away with back-to-back titles before Gujarat’s top order gets going.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is the IPL 2026 final?
The final is on Sunday, May 31, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Gates open around 4:30 PM IST and play is scheduled to begin at 7:30 PM IST.
Who do Gujarat Titans play in the final?
Gujarat face Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the defending champions, who finished top of the league table and beat Gujarat in Qualifier 1 to reach the title match.
What records did Shubman Gill break in Qualifier 2?
Gill’s century came off 47 balls, the fastest in IPL playoff history. He became the first captain to score a playoff hundred and the first batter to make multiple playoff hundreds, and it was his fifth IPL century overall.
How can fans watch the IPL 2026 final?
In India the match streams on JioHotstar and airs on the Star Sports Network. Viewers in the United States and Canada can watch on Willow TV or Fubo.
Have Bengaluru and Gujarat met in IPL 2026 already?
Yes. Bengaluru beat Gujarat by 92 runs in Qualifier 1, with Rajat Patidar making 93 off 33 balls. Their all-time head-to-head stands at nine games, five to Bengaluru and four to Gujarat.
