Indian Premier League 2026: RCB, GT, SRH and RR Set For IPL Playoff Battle

by Devesh Jaganath

image Indian Premier League 2026: RCB, GT, SRH and RR Set For IPL Playoff Battle
With the group stage of the 2026 Indian Premier League now done and dusted, our attention shifts to the Playoffs, which get underway this afternoon. Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans will contest Qualifier 1, while Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals will face off in the Eliminator.
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IPL 2026 Qualifier 1: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs. Gujarat Titans

Kicking off the 2026 Indian Premier League Playoffs are the two best teams from the group stage, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans, who finished with identical records of 18 points in their 14 matches (W9 D5). 

RCB clinched top spot thanks to their superior net rate (+0.783), and they are the current favourites to defend their title, having been the first team to book their place in the Playoffs, doing so with a game to spare after beating the Punjab Kings by 23 runs on May 17.  

As discussed in our Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans prediction, both these sides have explosive batting lineups, featuring the likes of Virat Kohli, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kagiso Rabada spearhead their bowling lineups. 

GT arguably enters this contest with greater momentum, as they were the best team over the second half of the group stage. Six of their nine wins in the competition came in their last seven games, including an impressive four-wicket victory over this opponent on April 30. 

However, RCB won the first match between these sides this season by five wickets on April 26, and holds the advantage in the recent head-to-head standings, winning three of their last five matches against the Titans since the start of the 2024 IPL campaign. 

IPL 2026 Eliminator: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Rajasthan Royals 

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While the loser of Qualifier 1 between RCB and GT will have another chance to qualify for the final via Qualifier 2, there is no room for error for the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, who will contest the win-or-go-home Eliminator on Wednesday afternoon. 

Like the top two teams in the group stage, SRH managed 18 points from their 14 matches, but finished third due to their net run rate (+0.524). RR, meanwhile, only secured their spot in the Playoffs on the final day of the group stage after beating the Mumbai Indians to finish on 16 points.

Our experts are leaning toward an SRH win, according to our Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals prediction, largely due to the Sunrisers' excellent top order, featuring Heinrich Klaasen, Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan, all of whom have scored over 550 runs in the competition. 

However, while SRH have consistency, the Rajasthan Royals have explosiveness, particularly in their opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and the 15-year-old starlet Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has set the tournament alight with a staggering strike rate of 232.27. 

With the ball, Jofra Archer has led the RR attack and has taken 21 wickets, including a best of 3/17, while Eshan Malinga claimed 19 scalps for SRH in 14 games, and is one of the few players to have taken a four-fer in this season’s Indian Premier League.