Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit 96 off 47 balls in a knockout match. Rajasthan Royals still lost. That single fact captures an entire season of Gujarat Titans vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026 a rivalry that started with RR on top, swung violently toward GT, and ended with GT eliminating RR in one of the most thrilling chases of the tournament.
These two teams played three times this season. If you only read one scorecard, you’re missing the story of how GT went from an early-season loss to setting a franchise chasing record against the very team that beat them first.
Quick Result: All Three GT vs RR Meetings in IPL 2026
| Match | Venue | Result | Decisive Factor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Match 9, early season | Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad | Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets | Ravi Bishnoi’s 4/41 restricted GT to 204/8 |
| Match 52, 9 May 2026 | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | Gujarat Titans won by 77 runs | Rashid Khan’s 4/33 triggered RR’s middle-order collapse |
| Qualifier 2, 29 May 2026 | Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium, Mullanpur | Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets | Shubman Gill’s 104 and a 167-run opening stand |
RR won the opening exchange. GT won the two that mattered most including the one that sent them to the final and ended Rajasthan’s season.
Match 9 Scorecard: GT vs RR, Early Season
Rajasthan Royals chased down 205 to beat Gujarat Titans by 4 wickets, finishing on 210/6. Sai Sudharsan’s 73 off 44 balls anchored GT’s 204/8, but Ravi Bishnoi’s 4/41 triggered a middle-overs collapse that meant GT never fully capitalised on their platform. Rashid Khan’s late 24 off 16 helped GT reach a defendable total, but Riyan Parag and Nandre Burger picked up early wickets to restrict the total, and Bishnoi’s four scalps did the rest.
Turning point: GT lost 6 wickets between the 12th and 20th over after reaching 107/1, a period where Ravi Bishnoi alone took 4 wickets for 41 runs.
What most people miss about this result: RR’s chase wasn’t built on aggressive stroke-play it was built on a bowling performance that never let GT’s total feel safe in the first place.
Match 52 Scorecard: RR vs GT, Jaipur
Played on 9 May 2026 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Rajasthan Royals won the toss and chose to field. Final result: Gujarat Titans won by 77 runs their biggest-ever win margin against Rajasthan Royals.
Gujarat Titans innings: 229/4 (20 overs)
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sai Sudharsan | c Jofra Archer b Yash Raj Punja | 55 | 36 | 6 | 2 | 152.78 |
| Shubman Gill (c) | — | 84 | 44 | 9 | 3 | 190.91 |
| Jos Buttler (wk) | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Washington Sundar | not out | 37 | 20 | 2 | 3 | 185.00 |
| Rahul Tewatia | not out | 14 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 350.00 |
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Extras: not fully itemised in source. Fall of wickets: 118-1 (Sudharsan, 10.5 ov), 150-2 (Buttler, 13.2 ov), 185-3 (Gill, 16.2 ov), 205-4 (Holder, 18.1 ov). Sudharsan and Gill put on 118 for the first wicket, with Sudharsan reaching fifty off 30 balls and Gill following in the 11th over off the same number of deliveries. Sundar and Tewatia added 21 runs in the final over alone.
RR bowling: Tushar Deshpande 4-0-52-0, Jofra Archer 3-0-46-0, Brijesh Sharma 2-0-47-2, Ravindra Jadeja 1-0-34-1, Yash Raj Punja 1 wicket.
Rajasthan Royals innings: 152 all out (16.3 overs)
| Batter | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | 36 | 16 | 3 | 3 | 225.00 | Became fastest to 100 sixes in T20 history during this innings |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 38 | 25 | — | — | 152.00 | Top scorer for RR |
| Dasun Shanaka | 16 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 145.45 | Late resistance in a losing cause |
| Tushar Deshpande | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 | Last man out, ending the innings |
GT bowling: Rashid Khan 4-0-33-4 (Player of the Match), Jason Holder 2.3-0-12-3, Kagiso Rabada 2 wickets, Mohammed Siraj 1 wicket.
Turning Point: Rashid Khan’s Middle-Order Demolition
Here’s what most recaps get wrong. They say RR “never found momentum” and leave it there. But here’s the real problem RR’s start wasn’t actually bad. Sooryavanshi’s 36 off 16 balls, including three sixes, kept them roughly on pace early.
What most people miss is exactly when it fell apart: Rashid Khan’s four-over spell of 4/33 dismantled the middle order in one continuous burst, backed by Jason Holder’s 3/12 cleaning up the tail.
Counterintuitive idea worth stating plainly: a target of 230 is supposed to be defended by pace and death-overs execution in modern T20 cricket. Instead, it was a legspinner in his mid-thirties who decided this game, not GT’s much-discussed pace battery of Rabada, Siraj and Krishna. Rashid Khan’s continued relevance in IPL 2026, at a stage of his career many assumed had passed its peak, is one of this season’s most underrated storylines.
Player Performance Breakdown: Match 52
- Shubman Gill (84 off 44): His fourth fifty of IPL 2026 came off exactly 30 balls, and he continued accelerating to finish with a strike rate above 190. This captain’s innings set the tone for GT’s entire total.
- Sai Sudharsan (55 off 36): Consistently the ideal foil for Gill, reaching his own fifty off 30 balls in the same over-range. The 118-run opening stand meant GT never had to rebuild from a setback.
- Rashid Khan (4/33, Player of the Match): His figures alone don’t capture the psychological blow RR’s middle order collapsed knowing there was no obvious weak link in GT’s bowling attack to target.
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (36 off 16): Even in a heavy defeat, his innings included a genuine piece of cricket history, becoming the fastest player to 100 sixes in T20 cricket. Bold opinion worth stating plainly: RR’s season increasingly became about individual milestones inside team defeats, and this match is the clearest example of that pattern.
Qualifier 2 Scorecard: GT vs RR, Mullanpur
Played on 29 May 2026 at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium. Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. Final result: Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets with 8 balls remaining, advancing to the IPL 2026 final.
Rajasthan Royals innings: 214/6 (20 overs)
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | c Prasidh Krishna b Mohammed Siraj | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Vaibhav Sooryavanshi | c Prasidh Krishna b Kagiso Rabada | 96 | 47 | 8 | 7 | 204.26 |
| Dhruv Jurel (wk) | c Shubman Gill b Kagiso Rabada | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 116.67 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | not out | 45 | 35 | 5 | 1 | 128.57 |
| Riyan Parag (c) | c Kagiso Rabada b Jason Holder | 11 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 183.33 |
| Dasun Shanaka | c Jos Buttler b Jason Holder | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Jofra Archer | c Jos Buttler b Prasidh Krishna | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 175.00 |
| Donovan Ferreira | not out | 38 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 345.45 |
Extras: 6. Fall of wickets: 2-1 (Jaiswal, 0.4 ov), 9-2 (Jurel, 1.5 ov), 101-3 (Parag, 9.3 ov), 109-4 (Shanaka, 11.3 ov), 118-5 (Archer, 12.4 ov), 172-6 (Sooryavanshi, 17.2 ov).
GT bowling: Mohammed Siraj 4-0-42-1, Kagiso Rabada 4-0-35-2, Prasidh Krishna 4-0-42-1, Washington Sundar 2-0-23-0, Jason Holder 4-0-27-2, Rashid Khan 2-0-45-0.
Gujarat Titans innings: 219/3 (18.4 overs)
| Batter | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sai Sudharsan | hit wicket b Brijesh Sharma | 58 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 181.25 |
| Shubman Gill (c) | lbw b Jofra Archer | 104 | 53 | 15 | 3 | 196.23 |
| Jos Buttler (wk) | not out | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Washington Sundar | c Donovan Ferreira b Nandre Burger | 16 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 177.78 |
| Rahul Tewatia | not out | 17 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 188.89 |
Extras: 15. Fall of wickets: 167-1 (Sudharsan, 12.5 ov), 182-2 (Gill, 14.6 ov), 201-3 (Sundar, 17.1 ov). Player of the Match: Shubman Gill.
RR bowling: Jofra Archer 4-0-45-1, Nandre Burger 4-0-35-1, Brijesh Sharma 3.4-0-44-1, Tushar Deshpande 3-0-34-0, Yash Raj Punja 2-0-29-0, Ravindra Jadeja 2-0-28-0.
Turning Point: Sudharsan-Gill’s 167-Run Stand
This is where things go wrong for a chasing team that starts brilliantly: RR’s own captain Riyan Parag said afterward that 215 felt like a defendable score, admitting “230-240 would have made the chase very challenging.” He was proven partly right but what he couldn’t defend against was Sudharsan and Gill deciding to attack from the very first over.
What most people miss about this chase: GT were not simply chasing well against a modest total. Sudharsan and Gill added 167 runs for the first wicket off just 77 balls, at a rate above 13 runs per over, effectively ending the contest by the 13th over. Once that stand ended, GT still had to navigate 52 more runs, and Buttler, Sundar and Tewatia managed the finish without alarm.
Counterintuitive idea worth stating plainly: conventional wisdom says chasing 215 in a knockout match should involve caution early and acceleration late. GT did the opposite maximum aggression from ball one, banking on their top order’s form rather than saving firepower for the death overs. It worked because Sudharsan and Gill’s dismissals came only after the total was already unassailable, not because the plan was inherently safe.
Player Performance Breakdown: Qualifier 2
- Shubman Gill (104 off 53, Player of the Match): His century came at a strike rate of 196.23, the most aggressive hundred of his IPL career to that point. Gill himself admitted after the match that he has started “inviting risk into his game” rather than playing purely within himself a mindset shift visible in real time during this knock.
- Sai Sudharsan (58 off 32): An unusual dismissal hit wicket cut short an innings that was firmly in control, striking eight fours in just 32 balls.
- Common mistake to avoid as a broadcaster or analyst: treating a hit-wicket dismissal as a fluke rather than a consequence of a batter committing fully to aggressive footwork.
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (96 off 47): The most talked-about innings of the match despite being on the losing side. Eight fours, seven sixes, and a knock that ended RR’s season on the highest possible individual note.
- What people think vs reality: fans see a near-century in an elimination match and call it “heartbreaking” for the player; the more useful read is that a 15-year-old delivering this exact performance on this exact stage is the single biggest confirmation yet that his talent is not a short-term IPL phenomenon.
- Donovan Ferreira (38 off 11): His strike rate of 345.45 pushed RR’s total from a modest 180-ish projection to a genuinely stiff 214, giving GT’s chase far less margin for error than it might have otherwise had.
- Kagiso Rabada (2/35): Took the key wickets of Sooryavanshi and Jurel, and his performance across the tournament saw him overtake Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the Purple Cap by the end of this match.
What RR Could Have Done Differently
| Issue Across the Season | Evidence | What It Cost Them |
|---|---|---|
| Over-reliance on individual brilliance over team balance | Sooryavanshi’s 36 and 96 both came in losses; no complementary partnership followed either innings | Two of RR’s three losses to GT came despite genuine individual excellence at the top of the order |
| Death-bowling inconsistency | Conceded 229 and 219 in two matches against the same top order | GT’s openers were rarely made to feel uncomfortable in the powerplay across either meeting |
| Captaincy and squad transitions mid-season | Riyan Parag missed Match 52 through injury; Yashasvi Jaiswal stood in as captain | Contributed to selection inconsistency that Parag himself later admitted was “defensive” |
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Bold opinion worth stating plainly: Rajasthan Royals’ season against Gujarat Titans is a clear case study in how individual brilliance cannot substitute for tactical clarity. RR had, arguably, the most exciting young batter in the tournament in Sooryavanshi, and it still wasn’t enough because their bowling plans against GT’s top order never adapted between May 9 and May 29. Losing the same way twice in three weeks against the same opponent is not misfortune it’s a pattern.
Key Highlights and Records From the Season
- Gujarat Titans’ 77-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Match 52 is their biggest-ever victory margin against RR by runs.
- Vaibhav Sooryavanshi became the fastest player to 100 sixes in T20 history during Match 52, and later became the first batter to hit 30 sixes in the powerplay in a single IPL season.
- Gujarat Titans’ chase of 219 in Qualifier 2 is their highest successful run chase in IPL history.
- Shubman Gill’s 104 off 53 in Qualifier 2 was his most aggressive century of the season, earning him Player of the Match and the Orange Cap race lead heading into the final.
- Rajasthan Royals finished the season 4th on the points table with 16 points, eliminated by GT in Qualifier 2.
- Rashid Khan’s 4/33 in Match 52 was among his best T20 figures in recent seasons, delivered at a stage of his career many assumed had passed its peak.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who won the most matches between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026?
Ans. Gujarat Titans won two of the three meetings. Rajasthan Royals won the season-opening fixture by 4 wickets, but GT won Match 52 by 77 runs and Qualifier 2 by 7 wickets, eliminating RR from the tournament.
Q2. What was GT’s biggest win margin against Rajasthan Royals?
Ans. Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by 77 runs in Match 52 on 9 May 2026 — their biggest-ever victory margin against RR by runs.
Q3. What is Gujarat Titans’ highest successful run chase in IPL history?
Ans. Gujarat Titans chased down 214 to win Qualifier 2 against Rajasthan Royals, finishing on 219/3 in 18.4 overs — their highest successful run chase in IPL history.
Q4. Who was Player of the Match in the GT vs RR Qualifier 2?
Ans. Shubman Gill was named Player of the Match after scoring 104 off 53 balls, anchoring a 167-run opening stand with Sai Sudharsan that decided the match.
Q5. How did Vaibhav Sooryavanshi perform against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026?
Ans. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 36 off 16 balls in Match 52 and 96 off 47 balls in Qualifier 2 — both losing efforts, but the Qualifier 2 innings included eight fours and seven sixes in a near-century that ended his and RR’s season.
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