New Delhi: A deficit of 15 to 20 runs in the death overs can often trouble teams, and that is exactly what Gujarat Titans experienced on Friday when they were asked to bat first by Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL 2026 clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.Despite the difference between a great start and a record opening Shubman Gill And Sai Sudarshan, GT’s 205/3 ultimately felt weak once defending champions RCB started the chase.Much of the credit for this goes to the three crucial overs from Suyyash Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, who stunned the Titans in the death overs.three magical oversAt the end of 16 overs, Gujarat Titans were in a good position at 170/2 on the back of an excellent 128-run opening partnership between Sudarshan and Gill. With Jos Buttler and Washington Sundar at the crease and firepower like Jason Holder, Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan still to come, GT looked set for a total of over 230.But the end never came.Suyyash Sharma bowled the 17th over brilliantly, giving only four runs and not giving a chance to Buttler or Sundar.After this, Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled the 18th over and took the important wicket of Butler giving only five runs. The pressure had already built and GT was now scrambling.Josh Hazlewood then delivered another blow in the 19th over, conceding only eight runs and closing the door on GT’s late lead.In the end, Gujarat Titans played 18 balls without any boundaries at a crucial stage when they were expected to explode.What was once looking like a score of over 230 came back to 205 thanks to a disciplined performance from RCB in the death overs.Even captain Shubman Gill later admitted how decisive those overs were.“I think from 16 to 19 overs, in those three overs we couldn’t hit any boundaries and we didn’t score as many runs as we wanted to. I think those three overs were very important for us. I mean, at the end of the powerplay, I think we were in a good position. It was all about taking wickets in the middle overs, which I think we couldn’t do once the powerplay was over,” Gill said in the post-match presentation.Kohli survived an early lifelineRCB’s target could have been derailed in the first over itself, but Gujarat Titans missed a golden opportunity.Virat KohliOn zero, Washington Sundar gave a direct chance to mid-wicket after mistimed a delivery from Mohammed Siraj.That mistake proved extremely costly.Kohli repaid GT in full by scoring 81 runs in 44 balls with the help of eight fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 184.09. During his strong innings, he also hit two consecutive sixes on Jason Holder.Kohli-Padikkal show confirms thisDevdutt Padikkal and Kohli then put on a match-defining partnership of 115 runs for the second wicket, as RCB firmly took control of the chase.Padikkal’s 55 and Kohli’s 81 ensured that RCB easily chased down 206 in 18.5 overs and moved to second place on the points table with 10 points.