Washington Sundar dropped the simplest catch of the match. It cost GT exactly 81 runs.
In RCB vs GT at the Chinnaswamy on Friday, Kohli — on zero, first ball faced, off Mohammed Siraj’s opening over — got a life that became IPL 2026’s defining image. Sai Sudharsan had just built a flawless century for GT — 100 off 58 balls, fastest to 2,000 IPL runs in history, first Indian to score centuries in three consecutive seasons. GT posted 205/3.
At the Chinnaswamy, it wasn’t close to enough.
Kohli’s 81 Off 44: Padikkal Broke It Open, Kohli Finished It
Devdutt Padikkal hammered 55 off 27 balls — six sixes, two fours, strike rate 203.70. His fifty arrived in 20 balls. Kohli’s took 30. Together, they put on 115 off 59 deliveries for the second wicket, turning 206 from a target into a formality.
Kohli ended with 81 off 44 — eight fours, four sixes, his 66th IPL fifty. He’s now the Orange Cap holder (328 runs from seven matches), the first batter to 800 IPL fours, and 11 runs from 9,000 career IPL runs — and he opened the season with 69*. He called Padikkal’s knock “the game changer.”
Then it wobbled. Rashid Khan bowled Padikkal with a googly. Holder yorked Kohli with a slower ball. Four wickets in four overs. RCB slipped to 173/5 — until Krunal Pandya (23* off 12) and Tim David quietly sealed it. 206/5 in 18.5 overs. Seven balls to spare.
Sudharsan’s Century. GT’s 205. Not Enough at the Chinnaswamy.
Sudharsan’s century was timing, not muscle — 11 fours and five sixes off a 128-run opening stand with Gill. He was dropped on 91 by Suyash Sharma, reached his hundred with a single, then fell caught-and-bowled to Hazlewood’s 143 kph short ball. After that, GT managed 31 runs in four overs. “We couldn’t get any boundaries from the 16th to the 19th,” Gill admitted.
RCB move to second — 10 points, five wins from seven — after their 50th win at the Chinnaswamy and their last home game here before shifting to Raipur. GT’s season has been — seventh, with more talent than results.
Sudharsan played the innings of the night. Sundar’s dropped catch decided it before the first over was done. That’s IPL 2026.