NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bengaluru completely outplayed Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026 Qualifier 1, winning by 92 runs after posting a huge total of 254/5. Rajat Patidar led the charge with a stunning unbeaten 93 off just 33 balls, smashing nine sixes and five fours. Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya also chipped in with 43 runs each as GT bowlers struggled badly under pressure.Gujarat’s chase never really got going as their top-order collapsed early. Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler all departed cheaply, leaving the team with too much to do. GT were eventually bowled out for 162. After the match, Gujarat Titans batter Glenn Phillips attended the press conference despite not being part of the playing XI. During the interaction, a reporter asked if GT had mentally given up after seeing RCB score 254. The question clearly annoyed Phillips, who strongly rejected the suggestion.“That’s a silly question. That is a really silly question. No one goes in there waiting to go, ‘Oh, you know what? We’re just going to give up on this one.’ Why would we do that as professional cricketers? That’s a terrible question,” he told reporters.“We went out there, we gave it everything. Unfortunately, when you’re trying to chase 250, everything has to go right. And we went out there to try and make everything go right, and obviously it didn’t.”Phillips explained that chasing such a massive total always creates pressure and every small mistake becomes costly.Phillips admitted scoreboard pressure played a huge role in the collapse but insisted the team gave everything on the field.“There’s a huge amount of scoreboard pressure when you’re trying to chase 250. And, you know, very few teams have done it,” he added.
