The curtains have fallen on the grandest domestic tournament in the world. All we have now are memories. For some, the memories will induce pain and misery. For others, it will be the source of utmost joy.
Among them, some batting innings will be etched in the chambers of our memories for a long time. IPL in India has always produced some deadly performances with the bat, thanks to some amazing batting tracks in the subcontinent.
The Chinnaswamy stadium is the best paradise for batsmen and a grueling nightmare for bowlers. Almost every other pitch is made of similar pattern like that of the Chinnaswamy.
And here we list the top 10 innings in this year’s IPL, in no particular order…
Virat Kohli 113 v Kings XI Punjab
Scoring 200 runs in 20 overs is quite the norm on Indian pitches. The tracks are made to make batsmen look like some omniscient entity. However, scoring 200+ in just 15 overs is something that borders on inscrutable.
I remember going to play cricket every Friday at Al Ahli Sports club in Fujairah, UAE. There, a lot of grown up Pakistani men also played and put up targets like 120-130 in the 7-8 overs.
So when Virat Kohli smashed 113 in just 50 balls to get Royal Challengers to an enormous total of 211 in just 15 overs, a wave of nostalgia washed over me as I relived those stress-less days of childhood. With 12 boundaries and 8 sixes, he made sure that the fans were kept at the edge of their seats while he kept oozing brilliance, while also giving his team a massive win.
Virat Kohli 109 v Gujarat Lions
The art of pacing an innings was taken to another level by the Test captain of India in this game. The first half of his runs came at a decent pace, but the second half was a different story altogether. In a game where AB de Villiers’ wrath consumed almost everything, Kohli made his own mark all by himself.
While the South African ended up with 129* in 52 balls, the talented Indian batsman got a hundred besides his name as well, finishing with 109 after playing only 55 balls along the way.
The innings helped break many records, one of which was of the highest partnership in the history of T20s.
Virat Kohli 108* v Rising Pune Supergiants
Virat Kohli has scored 4 centuries in this season’s IPL. However, if I had to choose the best of the lot, it would be this unbeaten 108 against the Rising Pune Super Giants.
This was a game where he was chasing a tricky total of 192. He was supported well by his opening partner, KL Rahul, but was left stranded when both his wicket-keeper and partner in crime, AB de Villiers departed.
However, by that time, Kohli had scored the majority of the runs and RCB needed 95 runs off the last 8 overs. Shane Watson played a good support role, but Kohli stayed till the very end to make sure his team didn’t bottle it. His 108* came in just 58 balls, giving his team an essential victory in a must-win game.
AB de Villiers 79* v Gujarat Lions (1st qualifier)
The magnitude of the situation in which this innings was played makes this knock the best of this year’s IPL in itself. Chasing a score of 159, RCB lost their star, Virat Kohli, for a duck while both Shane Watson and Chris Gayle departed without troubling the scorers much.
In came de Villiers with only one mission (and it was not from December 16, 1991): to win the game for his team from this almost-impossible situation.
He started his innings with cautiousness before exploding to a point where the game didn’t even reach the last over. He got help from Iqbal Abdulla in the end, but he was the mastermind that engineered a fine win with an unbeaten 79 off 47 balls.
AB de Villiers 129* v Gujarat Lions
What is power? What is the source of it? Is it Red Bull? No! It is AB de Villiers! While this might sound like a lame attempt to rip-off Superman’s theme music, which it is, it is simply the only way where I could make an apt comparison of him with the Man of Steel.
After Chris Gayle departed early, de Villiers came in to bat with only one thing in mind; hit every ball off the park. And he did just that.
He played 52 balls and reached 129 runs in that time. He made it look so effortless that even sleeping would look like a hardworking task when compared to it.
Krunal Pandya 86 in 37
When the tournament began, most expected the younger Pandya i.e. Hardik to pick where he left off and have a great IPL. However, Hardik Pandya’s campaign was a disappointing one. His brother, Krunal, though, became one of the revelations of this year’s IPL.
As the Mumbai Indians batted first against the Daredevils, they made a flying start to the game. After the first wicket fell, Krunal Pandya was promoted to number 3 and played the innings of his life.
Nobody expected him to do what he did. In 37 balls, he made a vehement 86 runs to power his team to a score of over 200. In the end, it was this blitzkrieg from Pandya that gave them the win as the target was way too much to the Delhi team to comprehend.
David Warner 93* vs Gujarat Lions (2nd qualifier)
A list like without a David Warner innings is no list at all. If it weren’t or Virat Kohli’s superhuman displays in the IPL, the Australian would have easily won the Orange Cap. However, he got the most coveted prize: the IPL trophy.
But, he had to struggle—single-handedly, it must be added—to get there.
In the final play-off game, the Gujarat Lions posted a score of 162. On a good batting surface, it was supposed to be an easy chase—but if only it was.
Wickets kept falling on one end as David Warner stood like a mountain amidst a tempest. At one point, during the second strategic time-out, one could see an animated David Warner frustrated over the lack of assistance he got from his mates.
In the end, he got some help from Bipul Sharma’s innings of 27 from 11 balls, but it was he whose 58-ball 93 took them to the final.
Karun Nair 83* vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
After de Villiers’ unbeaten 79 and David Warner’s unbeaten 93, this innings from Karun Nair stands as one of the best single-handed victories in this year’s IPL.
Delhi were batting second and required a win against the Sunrisers if they had any chance to reach the play-offs. The target they had to chase was 159, which was a stiff ask against the best bowling unit in the competition.
The pressure was always on Delhi since Mustafiz and co. kept them under severe pressure by keeping the run-rate in check. However, Nair played a sensible innings, using finesse rather than power-hitting to steadily anchor the ship towards the target.
With 6 runs needed from the last 2 balls, he hit Bhuvaneshwar Kumar for two consecutive boundaries to give his team an emphatic win at a time they required it the most.
MS Dhoni 64* off 32 vs Kings XI Punjab
This was perhaps the greatest innings ever played in a dead-rubber game. Both Punjab and Pune were already out of the tournament, but had to fulfill the obligation of playing their clash to complete the quota of 14 matches.
As a Murali Vijay-inspired Punjab smacked their way to a competitive score of 172, it seemed like Pune would fall short of the target by a good 10 runs.
In the last over, Axar Patel was given the ball. He had to defend 23 runs. On the striker’s end was MS Dhoni, who looked determine not finish last in the league.
The first 3 balls yielded 7 runs only, making it a near-impossible task for the man from Ranchi. With 16 required from 3 balls, only a miracle could give them a win. And it did come from the bat of MS Dhoni.
A boundary and then two consecutive sixes gave Pune a fine win, averting the embarrassment of finishing last. The Herculean effort from MS Dhoni remains the best moment of this IPL, regardless of how unimportant the match was.
Ben Cutting 39* off 15 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Final)
And we conclude this slideshow with the innings that made the difference in the final and handed the trophy to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The amount of runs Ben Cutting scored might be like a candle among the Suns that are placed on this list. However, in terms of importance and magnitude, every other innings on this list is eclipsed by the Australian’s furious innings that spanned across only 15 balls.
When he came into bat, Hyderabad were at 147 with only 4 overs of their innings remaining. By the time 20 overs were played, Sunrisers finished with 208 runs under their name—and it was his wrath that got them there.
He took Shane Watson to the cleaners in the penultimate over as the Australian conceded 24 runs in his final 6 balls. Cutting ended with an unbeaten 39 runs from only 15 balls and played the innings that made the difference in the most important game of it all.
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