Sai Sudharsan gets an unlucky dismissal after his bat slipped in the GT vs RCB clash.
Gujarat Titans suffered a nightmare moment early in their gigantic chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2026 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala, as Sai Sudharsan fell victim to an extremely rare and unfortunate hit-wicket dismissal.
Chasing a daunting target of 255, Gujarat Titans desperately needed a strong start from their top order. However, RCB pacer Jacob Duffy produced an early breakthrough in dramatic fashion during the third over of the innings.
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The dismissal came on the fourth ball of the over when Duffy bowled a short-of-a-length delivery angling across the left-hander outside off stump. Sai Sudharsan attempted an aggressive cut shot and managed to place the ball cleanly past point.
But immediately after completing the stroke, disaster struck. As Sudharsan followed through on the shot, the bat slipped out of his hands and flew backwards toward the stumps. The bat then bounced awkwardly before crashing directly into the wicket, dislodging the bails. The GT opener initially appeared unaware of what had happened and even began running before turning around in disbelief.
The giant screen quickly confirmed the dismissal as hit wicket, leaving both the batter and the crowd stunned.
RCB players celebrated wildly after the wicket as the breakthrough significantly boosted their momentum in the contest. Defending a mammoth total of 254/5, Bengaluru were already in a commanding position after Rajat Patidar’s explosive unbeaten 93 off just 33 deliveries powered them to one of the biggest playoff totals in IPL history.
Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal and Krunal Pandya also made valuable contributions with the bat before RCB’s pace attack capitalised on scoreboard pressure.
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For Gujarat Titans, the bizarre dismissal only added to the pressure of an already near-impossible chase under knockout conditions.
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