Arquam: "Kagiso snatches the Purple Cap" Indeed, Bhuvi will have his turn to take it back later tonight.

Rabada to bowl the second over.

Virat Kohli and Venky Iyer opening the innings for RCB. I suspect the crowd support might be in their favour. Siraj to open the bowling for GT. There's a bit of an issue with the sightscreen; Venky wants some adjustments made. This is taking a while ...

Kishore : "My score prediction for RCB - 246/3 (20 Overs)!!!" That score might neutralise the toss advantage.

Toss, 7.00 pm Rajat Patidar tosses the coin, Shubman Gill calls tails. GT win the toss and will bowl first.

Patidar reckons the pitch will not change much over the course of the game, and doesn't seemed too fussed at having lost the toss. No Salt for RCB!

GT have brought in Kulwant Khelroliya for Arshad Khan.

RCB bat-first XI: Kohli, Venky, Padikkal, Patidar, Krunal, David, Jitesh, Bhuvneshwar, Hazlewood, Duffy, Rasikh.

RCB's Impact Player options: Shepherd, Suyash, Kanishk Chohan, Abhinandan Singh, Jordan Cox.

So Shepherd likely to come in as Impact Player during the first innings, replacing a batter who has been dismissed. Unless his batting is not needed and RCB feel a spinner might do well when GT chase, in which case Suyash could come in.

GT bowl-first XI: Gill, Sudharsan, Buttler, Nishant Sindhu, Sundar, Holder, Rashid, Khejroliya, Rabada, Siraj, Prasidh.

GT's Impact Player options: Tewatia, Phillips, Anuj Rawat, Kumar Kushagra, Sai Kishore.

GT likely to bring in Tewatia for the chase.'

VS: "GT gets the first lucky break, winning the toss. Hope toss does not have a say in the outcome"

Jashan: "We always talk about GT's top 3, and non existent middle order, but I think we're underestimating the class and form of Sundar and calm headed hitting of Holder and Rahul"

Sanket: "We often say that powerplay could potentially decide the game and this applies here as well probably more than any other game. GT has been using 3 overs of each Siraj and Rabada upfront so that clash with RCB's top order would have huge impact on where RCB finishes and the same way how RCB uses new ball against top 3 heavy GT would define the chase. RCB has strengthen their pace bowling by adding Duffy, with his height and pace he can be really tough to handle."

SONIA: " Goodness sake, can someone give us the pitch report before the match? this becomes extremely non-happening and dry without a pitch report before the match!!!!" Phew, if you scroll all the way to the bottom ... but to recap, it's a road, so expected to be flat. 63 metre square boundaries and a 73 metre hit down the ground.

Yogesh: "Rooting for SRH v RCB in Qualifier 2. Travis Head v Virat Kohli one more time!"

Pratik Soholkar: "Finally RCB got it right with the eleven and impact player options..always wanted shephered in imapct list and duffy in starting x1..can always have that extra option of either shephered or suyash depending on situation as an impact sub.."

Celine : "Greetings from Copenhagen. Done with the sightseeing for today so can follow up RCB v GT now. All the best to Patidar, Kohli and the team! "

Gaurav: "Kohli has a great chance to win the orange cap. Sai and Shubhman will play only 2 more games, but Kohli will play 3."

Gurdev: "Notwithstanding performance of RCB and GT, I fancy SRH is the team picking up the 2026 ipl trophy "

6.30 pm GT are playing a match in Dharamsala for the first time, and I don't mean in this season. And though RCB have made the top four since GT came into existence, and GT have made the playoffs in 2022, 2023 and 2025, this is the first time they are playing each other in the playoffs.

HonbleJimHacker: "Romario at best offers 3 overs. Usually 2. Yes he has a knack of picking wickets but that's not consistent enough. David and Iyer can surely give you the same 2 overs. So I'd say play Salt and Iyer, David, Duffy and Hazelwood form the rest of overseas."

VS: "With both sides have quality bowlers, hope they dish out a bowler friendly surface." ABD called the surface an "absolute road".

More from Shashank at the venue: "Rashid Khan with an interesting warm-up drill. Doing spot-bowling with a heavy ball, not the normal white ball. And the focus is on pushing it quicker through the air ...GT's only doubt remained around the Impact Player. And it looks like they prefer Prasidh over the left-arm spin duo of Sai Kishore/Manav Suthar. Prasidh has marked his run-up."

Vishal Poojary: "Looks like people have forgotten that Romario Sheperd is an explosive batter who can bowl too :)"

shishank dahiya: "Another day with no overs from spin?" Spin from Rashid and Krunal, and that may be it.

Guruprasad S: "@HonbleJimHacker: Salt has been injured and out of action for quite some time now. Captain Patidar is unlikely to bring Salt back, more so when Venky Iyer is in such good form. And Romario is needed because of the experience he has got now with the franchise and for his big hitting abilities."

Mehul Trivedi : "How many Cricket Lovers agree that … We should have minimum distance for boundaries : Less than 70mtrs boundaries not allowed. That will ensure some level playing field for bowlers."

Himanshu Mehta: "Why do call flat pitches "a road"? Here in Mumbai most of our roads are filled with potholes and it would be an absolutely nightmare to bat on these roads." Oh dear ...

Sujit: "Who will win the orange cap? 7 out of Top 9 players will play in the playoffs." It is a tight race indeed.

Parvez: "Surely bringing in Salt in place of Jitesh is practical. Jitesh has been in abysmal form. I know Venky likes to open the batting with the new ball and Virat isn't giving up his spot. I would let Iyer replace Jitesh and let him bat where Jitesh is batting. If it comes down to Salt vs Jitesh there's no justifying going with the latter. Salt can keep wickets just fine. "

Guruprasad S: "RCB will need to get rid of GT's top three cheaply and open up GT's undercooked middle order to win this qualifier. "

6.15 pm VS: "Who will play today, Salt, Venkatesh or both? Decision time for RCB"

Shashank Kishore is at the venue: "RCB have started their pre-match rituals. No sign of Phil Salt yet. Kohli and Padikkal first out for some knocks. Duffy marking his run-up."

Salt rejoined the RCB squad ahead of their previous game after spending time in England recovering from a finger injury and should slot back in at the top of the order.

notMSD: "Good morning from Seattle! Is it the 1st time in Playoffs era we have 3 different venues? This is too much travel for one team in the final!!" From memory, it is the first time. Normally Q1 and the Eliminator are at one venue, and Q2 and the final at another venue.

Phani: "Are there chances of rain? Some weather reports are predicting rain today. If match gets washed out, RCB will reach Finals. Being RCB supporter, I don't want that. They need good practice before reaching finals. NO SIGN OF RAIN AT THE MOMENT, and the forecast is all right.

RCB have finished in the top two in consecutive seasons for the first time ever. Here's how they went about building this excellent squad.

6.00 pm Good evening, and welcome to our live coverage of Qualifier 1 in IPL 2026. Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans in Dharamsala. The stakes: winner goes directly through to the final, the team that loses travels to New Chandigarh to try and make the final by winning Qualifier 2.

While the players from RCB and GT will enjoy the cooler weather in Dharamsala, this venue is a tough one for the team that loses the toss. The team that chases usually enjoys a significant advantage here. Sidharth Monga has more in his preview.

Shaurya: "@George Hello! With this pace in the finals you may start the coverage by 5 itself!...Anyways who are you backing today..for me it's RCB 60-40!" I'll pick the chasing team.

While this IPL has largely been about high scores at higher strike rates, these two teams have pretty spicy bowling attacks, especially with the new ball. Bhuvi, Hazlewood, Rabada and Siraj. How they go in the powerplay - especially if there is seam movement of offer - could decide this contest.

AB de Villiers said the pitch - No. 5, a fresh surface - was an "absolute road". The square boundaries are small at 63 metres. The straight hit is 73 metres.