New Delhi (India) May 29: Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and made the decision to bat first on Friday. The battle is to see if Gujarat Titans will secure the spot in the final of the IPL 2026 when they face Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on Friday at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Winners will step one step closer to glory, to face Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the title game of India's Indian Premier League.
Rajasthan Royals won the toss in Mullanpur, however it was only a re-spin. It was Shubman Gill who was the tipper, but Riyan Parag’s call did not carry enough noise for the match referee Prakash Bhatt, leaving everyone in shock. Ravi Shastri suddenly declared that the toss would be carried out again. The toss occurred this time around and RR went in to bat first.
Gill seemed a little frustrated by what had happened at the toss, saying he either would have elected to bat, too, and that it was unfortunate that the match referee couldn’t hear the call. On the first occasion, once the toss was taken off, it fell on tails (for GT) after Riyan called heads.
Rajasthan Royals did not get a good start with a pair of quick wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, but Ravindra Jadeja drew on all his experience to counterattack with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. In the nick of time the innings settled, Jadeja had to retire hurt, sending the Royals into a collapse between 101/2 and 118/5.
Vaibhav hit a stunning 96 off 47 balls — as he kept attacking the bowlers. Jadeja came back to provide much-needed stability with some important contributions afterwards. Donovan Ferreira's devastating 38 off just 11 deliveries gave the Royals a late push that may be needed to bring some change.
Gujarat Titans will regret the repeat of failure to realize in their crucial moments. Mohammed Siraj and Kagiso Rabada hit early in the Powerplay, and the shorter ball plan against Vaibhav Sooryavanshi appeared effective enough at first. Titans also held off well into the middle overs, with Jason Holder’s 2/27 topping the charge. But Sai Sudharsan’s late, failed catch on 46 proved costly as Sooryavanshi paid for it with a stunning knock prior to Rabada finally taking him out on 96. Rashid Khan had the last leg of the game left with Shubman Gill's trust, but the spinner conceded 27 runs — giving Titans the huge chase with a whole different ball game.
RR arrived for this match with a strong 47-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Eliminator on May 27 at the same venue. GT, in contrast, will be trying to bounce back from a devastating 92-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in Qualifier 1 on May 26. The Qualifier 2 winner will move into the IPL 2026 final against RCB at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 31 as scheduled.
When it comes to head-to-head records, GT has the upper hand over RR. In the IPL, the two teams have played 10 times and Gujarat has won seven matches while Rajasthan managed to beat Gujarat three times.
RR XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja
GT XI: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj