Gujarat seal top two with their biggest IPL win; Hyderabad pile on 255 to chase RCB down
GT thumped CSK by 89 runs last night to lock in Qualifier 1; tonight at Uppal, Sunrisers are hunting RCB's grip on the table.
How last night went · Match 66 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
140 all out (13.4) — Shivam Dube 47 (17)
Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 3/26 (GT) · Prasidh Krishna 2/24 (GT) · Rashid Khan 2/30 (GT)
Toss: GT won, opted to bat · Player of the Match: Mohammed Siraj
The one to remember
Sudharsan and Gill have been Gujarat's spine all season, and at Ahmedabad they spent ten overs setting up the runway before Klaasen-meets-Pollard demolition from the rest. Sudharsan's 84 came in 53 balls with the kind of straight-bat clarity that screams India A-tour next. By the time CSK came out to chase, the stadium already knew.
The moments that decided it
- Hit GT openers. 98-run stand in 11.2 overs before the launchpad — exactly what 229 needed.
- Hit Siraj at the death. Took out the CSK middle order in his second spell, two in two in the 11th and the chase was over.
- Miss CSK's middle. Lost 6 for 32 between overs 10 and 14 — chase done before the death overs even mattered.
- Turning point Dube swung hard and got 47 off 17, but by the time he fell in the 13th over CSK still needed 90 off 39 with three wickets standing — the math went away.
Tonight on the field · Match 67
Stakes: RCB are defending top spot; Sunrisers are hunting a top-two finish on net run rate, and at 255 in the first innings they've made it a fight.
Matchup to watch: Bhuvneshwar Kumar (RCB, Purple Cap) vs Travis Head + Abhishek Sharma at the death — Bhuvi gave up 0 wickets in his first spell tonight, an unusual quiet from the season's most consistent seamer.
Pitch: Uppal is averaging 195 in first innings this season; SRH posted 255 batting first, well above par.
Where things stand
| # | Team | M | W | L | Pts | NRR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | RCB | 13 | 9 | 4 | 18 | 1.065 |
| 2 | GT | 14 | 9 | 5 | 18 | 0.695 |
| 3 | SRH | 13 | 8 | 5 | 16 | 0.350 |
| 4 | RR | 13 | 7 | 6 | 14 | 0.083 |
| 5 | PBKS | 13 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 0.227 |
| 6 | KKR | 13 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 0.011 |
| 7 | CSK | 14 | 6 | 8 | 12 | -0.345 |
| 8 | DC | 13 | 6 | 7 | 12 | -0.871 |
| 9 | MI | 13 | 4 | 9 | 8 | -0.510 |
| 10 | LSG | 13 | 4 | 9 | 8 | -0.702 |
Where every fan stands tonight
- RCB — Top of the table even with two league matches to play. Defending the top spot tonight — a Bhuvneshwar-led bowling night would lock home advantage for Qualifier 1.
- GT — Top two locked after the Ahmedabad demolition. Sudharsan and Gill in the kind of form that wins finals.
- SRH — Sitting third, hunting a top-two spot with this run rate. 255 tonight at home is a statement — a big win and they leapfrog GT on NRR.
- PBKS — Fourth on points, the playoff cut-off still in play. One must-win league fixture left to dodge the eliminator.
- RR — Fourth-ish on points but riding Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's season — every Royals night is now a Sooryavanshi watch.
- CSK — Officially out after last night's 89-run loss. The end of an era at Chennai — first time CSK miss the playoffs since 2022.
- KKR — Sixth on points but on a 6-from-7 surge after a 0-from-6 start. Mathematically alive on net run rate, dependent on other results.
- DC — Slipped from playoff conversation in the last fortnight. Lots of off-season thinking ahead for Sourav and Ponting.
- MI — Last night's loss at Eden was the end of the road — out of playoff contention. The bowling held up, the batting didn't.
- LSG — Out. Big captaincy and middle-order questions to answer through the winter.
Names worth knowing
Orange Cap
- Sai Sudarshan (Gujarat Titans) — 638 runs
- Shubman Gill (Gujarat Titans) — 616 runs
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (Rajasthan Royals) — 579 runs
- Mitchell Marsh (Lucknow Super Giants) — 563 runs
- Heinrich Klaasen (Sunrisers Hyderabad) — 555 runs
Purple Cap
- Bhuvneshwar Kumar (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) — 24 wkts
- Anshul Kamboj (Chennai Super Kings) — 21 wkts
- Rashid Khan (Gujarat Titans) — 19 wkts
- Jofra Archer (Rajasthan Royals) — 18 wkts
Around the boundary
Manish Pandey keeps KKR alive at Eden. Two nights ago at Eden, KKR beat MI by 4 wickets with 7 balls to spare in a low-scoring chase of 148. Pandey's 45 off 33 in a tricky chase was the standout — KKR have now won 6 of their last 7 after losing the first six, the kind of comeback no one was forecasting in April. Cameron Green and Saurabh Dubey did the early powerplay work to kneecap the MI top order.
GT's 89-run hammering is their biggest IPL win. Last night's margin in Ahmedabad is the largest in Gujarat's IPL history by runs. The previous record was 71. Siraj has now taken 11 wickets in his last five outings — the late-season acceleration that championship sides build around.
Chennai officially eliminated. CSK's loss at Ahmedabad knocked them out of the 2026 playoffs. First time since 2022 they miss the cut. The dressing room conversations now turn squarely to the auction in October and what a Stephen Fleming exit interview might or might not look like.
Phil Salt watch — RCB injury update. RCB's English opener was a doubt for tonight after Tuesday's net session knock. The latest from the team's medical desk: not in the playing XI tonight; expected to be fit for the start of playoffs. Padikkal moves up to open with Kohli.
Tomorrow
PBKS vs DC. Punjab need a win to nail down their playoff slot; Delhi are out but playing for net run rate respect and 2027 retentions.
Sources: https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/gujarat-titans-vs-chennai-super-kings-66th-match-1529309/match-report, https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/kolkata-knight-riders-vs-mumbai-indians-65th-match-1529308/match-report, https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/ipl-2026-1510719/sunrisers-hyderabad-vs-royal-challengers-bengaluru-67th-match-1529310/live-match-blog, https://www.business-standard.com/cricket/ipl/ipl-2026-live-score-updates-srh-vs-rcb-full-scorecard-sunrisers-hyderabad-vs-royal-challengers-bengaluru-highlights-126052200960_1.html, https://www.outlookindia.com/sports/cricket/srh-vs-rcb-live-score-indian-premier-league-2026-match-67-sunrisers-hyderabad-v-royal-challengers-bengaluru-ipl-t20-updates-highlights-rajiv-gandhi-international-stadium · fmd-data canonical layer (wikipedia:2026_Indian_Premier_League).