Royal Challengers Bengaluru reached back-to-back Indian Premier League finals after they produced a fine display to beat the Gujarat Titans by 92 runs in Tuesday's Qualifier 1.

Rajat Patidar's blistering unbeaten knock of 93 from just 33 deliveries got RCB to a mammoth total of 254-5 before Jacob Duffy helped skittle out the Titans for just 162. 

RCB saw Venkatesh Iyer (19) fall early, but Virat Kohli (43) and Devdutt Padikkal (30) steadied the ship before the pair were dismissed by Jason Holder (2-39) in the eighth over. 

However, that allowed Patidar to take centre stage, and he mixed five fours and nine maximums to propel RCB past 250, with Krunal Pandya also chipping in to their tally with 43.  

The Titans had already lost three wickets by the time the sixth over rolled around, as Sai Sudharsan (12), Shubman Gill (2) and Jos Buttler (29) failed to get their team firing. 

Rasikh Salam then caught and bowled Nishant Sindhu (5) before dismissing Holder for a duck, leaving the Titans at just 51-5 by the end of the sixth over in Dharamshala. 

And though Rahul Tewatia's knock of 68 halted the onslaught, the wickets continued to tumble around him as Washington Sundar (8), Rashid Khan (8) and Kagiso Rabada (9) were all sent packing as the Titans now turn their focus to another shot at redemption in Qualifier 2 on Friday. 

𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞-𝗧𝗢-𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 #𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗔𝗜𝗣𝗟 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗦.

Every chant. Every cheer. Every moment of support from the 12th Man Army brought us here.

One last dance awaits in Ahmedabad. pic.twitter.com/7fUmCfgwDv

— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) May 26, 2026

Data Debrief: RCB batters make IPL history

RCB became the first side since the Titans between 2022 and 2023 to reach consecutive IPL finals, but it was the former team that stole the show today, and they had Patidar's batting heroics to thank as they set a solid foundation for their triumph. 

Their tally of 254 is the highest by any team in an IPL play-off (or knockout) match. The previous highest was by the Titans three years ago when they plundered 233 against the Mumbai Indians. RCB's total is also the fifth instance of a team scoring 250 or more in a play-off or knockout game in T20 cricket. 

And key to that was Patidar, whose knock is the joint-highest by any captain in the IPL play-offs. David Warner also had an unbeaten score of 93 for Sunrisers Hyderabad against the Gujarat Lions in 2016. His nine sixes are also the second-most in an IPL play-off, with only Gill in 2023 (10) managing more.