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Gujarat Titans (GT) established some unflattering records to their name with a disappointing batting display in the final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
The collapse of GT's top three of skipper Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler led to their fall, and it was a fifty from Washington Sundar which took GT to 155/8 at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. It was for the fourth time this season that GT's top three were sent packing within the powerplay, with three of these instances coming against RCB itself. Also, the Titans took a very long time to hit a six. Arshad Khan's six against Krunal Pandya over mid-wicket in the fourth ball of the 13th over marked the longest instance of a team waiting to hit their first six of the innings during this season. Arshad's six was also the first boundary shot scored by a GT batter since Nishant Sindhu's four against Rasikh Salam in the sixth over. It led to a gap of 40 balls between two boundaries, the longest gap between a boundary in an IPL final. However, GT can take one positive as sub-160 totals have been defended four times in an IPL final, thrice by MI (in 2013, 2017 and 2019 finals) and once by Deccan Chargers in the 2009 final. The lowest successful total in an IPL 2026 game has been 159/6 by Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow. Washington (50 in 37 balls, with five fours) and Nishant Sindhu (20 in 18 balls, with three fours) were the only batters to cross the 20-run mark in GT's innings as Rasikh Salam Dar (3/27), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/29) and Josh Hazlewood (2/39) got the wickets. (ANI)
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