From Holder's Five-Fer to Gill's Blitz, Gujarat Titans Down Defending Champions RCB by Four Wickets

Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru suffered their third defeat of IPL 2026 , going down to Gujarat Titans by four wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Thursday evening, and the architect of their misery was a man with the ball, not the bat.

Jason Holder was so omnipresent that his five dismissals helped GT bowl RCB out for a modest 155 , with four balls of their innings still remaining. RCB’s batting never truly clicked. Virat Kohli fell early, and despite a bright start from Devdutt Padikkal , who looked fluent before being cleaned up by Rashid Khan , the middle order crumbled, with RCB slipping to 126 for 7 at one stage.

Shubman Gill came out blazing in the chase, smashing 43 off 18 balls , his best powerplay contribution in the IPL, before Kohli pouched a sharp catch at short cover to send him back. For a brief moment, RCB’s bowlers sniffed an opportunity. Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck to remove Jos Buttler , and GT lost both openers inside the powerplay, exposing their fragile middle order once again.

Buttler, however, had already done serious damage, teeing off relentlessly and keeping GT on track before his dismissal. When the equation tightened, cameos from Jason Holder and Impact Player Rahul Tewatia steadied the ship and carried GT over the line.

GT chased down 155 in 15.5 overs , finishing at 158 for 6 . For RCB, it was a night to forget — a below-par total and an inability to take wickets at the right moments proved to be a lethal combination. The champions will need to regroup quickly if they want to stay firmly in title contention this season.