RCB: Finished 1st with 18 points, 9W-5L, NRR 0.783. Defending champions after winning 2025. GT: Finished 2nd with 18 points, 9W-5L, NRR 0.695. “Surging” after 89-run win vs CSK in final league game. H2H 2026: 1-1 this season. Overall IPL record 4-4. Since that match, the halfway point for GT, their run rate has increased by nearly a run per over. That is 20 runs per innings. By the time they faced RCB next, they were giving more importance to balls remaining than to wickets in hand while chasing. When batting first, GT were looking to score above par; there has been a pair of 229s in the two matches they have batted first in since that Bengaluru debacle. Strength: Viewed as RCB’s “strongest title defence in years”. Bowling: Lead IPL with 27 Powerplay wickets. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood both on 24 wickets each, top 2 in tournament. Batting: “Far more balanced unit around Virat Kohli”. Phil Salt, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Tim David firing. Form: Chased 206 vs GT in Bengaluru on Apr 24. RCB, though, have been solid throughout, carrying forward the change in approach that took them to the title last year. They won five in the first half and four in the second. They have consistently looked to finish matches early or set above-par scores when batting first. A second consecutive top-two finish is just rewards for being the most consistently good side over this period. Momentum: Hammered CSK by 89 runs to seal Qualifier 1. Top 3 reliance: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Jos Buttler bat “lion’s share of overs”. Sudharsan leads charts with 265 runs from 5 matches earlier in season. Bowling: Kagiso Rabada also on 24 wickets. Rashid Khan, Prasidh Krishna key. Final advantage: If GT win, they head to Ahmedabad final where they’re 5-2 at home this season. “Transformed into a fortress”. Playoff format: Qualifier 1 winner to final. Loser plays Qualifier 2 vs Eliminator winner. History: Since 2011, top-2 teams have won IPL 14 times. Only once has a non-top-2 team won: SRH 2016. GT camp: Assistant coach Vijay Dahiya: “It’s got to be a battle… equally matched, some big players on both sides”. Bottom line: League toppers RCB with their dominant bowling vs a surging GT peaking at the right time. Both 18 points, 1-1 this year, and winner skips Qualifier 2 to play the final in Ahmedabad. Both the night matches in Dharamsala were skewed towards the chasing side. A square with tufty grass, no matter how dry, starts with the ball holding a touch and then settles down as the temperature comes down. Add to it a small outfield and the rarefied air of the hills, and it becomes extremely difficult to defend totals. Remember what Tilak Varma said of batting in the night: set yourselves up for slower balls, and swing "blindly" if it is quick because even half hits and mis-hits fly. The weather is set clear so we will have an outright winner.