IPL: Best match for each of the current team 

We are nearing the 11th season of the Indian Premier League already. It feels like only yesterday when the inaugural season of the IPL took place and Brendon McCullum started it with a fiery knock of 158 runs in the first game followed by the Rajasthan Royals winning the finals and lifting the silverware.

It's been a decade since we started watching the tournament. Many teams had to face ups and downs while many have been consistent throughout the decade. Leaving all these aside,

It's needless to say that the quality of the game has been brilliant and these games have produced some of the best matches for each of the franchises. So here we look at the best match for each of the current IPL franchise in the past one decade!

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#8 Delhi Daredevils

Delhi Daredevils vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 2016

It was the 9th Edition of IPL and the year 2016 was one of the best years for the Sunrisers Hyderabad as they got a chance to lift the Trophy in that season. On the other hand, Delhi Daredevils just like their older seasons had to go through a path full of difficulties and were unable to make a place in the playoffs.

It was the 52nd match of the 9th season of the IPL and a must-win game for Delhi Daredevils to keep their hopes alive for the playoffs in that season. Being the table toppers, Sunrisers Hyderabad were the hot favourites of the match but the destiny had some other plans.

DD won the toss and put SRH into bat. After an ebullient knock of 73 runs in 56 balls from David Warner, sunrises put up a total of 158 runs in 20 overs. Chasing 159, DD lost De Kock in the second over on just 9 runs.

But all thanks to Karun Nair's 83 runs in 59 balls and the 73 runs' partnership with Rishab Pant that helped the Daredevils to make a comeback.

After all these efforts, 11 runs were still required off the last over from Bhuvaneshar Kumar but then it was Karun Nair who cracked two boundaries of the last two balls of the last over and won the match for Delhi Daredevils. This match will always be the one to remember for all the Delhi fans out there.

#7 Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 2013

It was the year 2013. The 6th edition of the IPL. The two of the most unpredictable teams of the tournament were facing each other in the 51st match of the season.

After a poor bowling display from the home team KXIP followed by the two half-centuries by Cheteshwar Pujara and Chris Gayle, RCB scored 190 runs in 20 overs. After such a brilliant batting display by the visitors, no one would have foreseen a win for KXIP. The situation got worse when Punjab lost 4 wickets on the score of 64 runs in 9.5 Overs.

Then came out to bat David Miller and the rest as you all know is history. The South African icon played a scintillating knock of 101 runs in just 38 balls. The left-handed batsman cracked a total of 15 boundaries consisting of 8 fours and 7 sixes.

The KXIP pulled off the chase with 12 balls remaining. This was the highest run chase in the 6th edition of IPL. This innings by David Miller shocked the visitors and kept the home side's fans' hopes alive. Be it the Fans of KXIP, David Miller and even Chris Gayle (who gave 22 runs in one over) no one will ever forget this match and the heroics of David Miller.

#6 Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders 2014

It was the year 2014. The 7th edition of the Indian Premier league was just 18 matches old. Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals were facing each other for the first time in the season. Little did they know that this match was going to create history in the Vivo IPL.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. Vinay Kumar gave an early blow to the Royals as he took the wicket of Karun Nair in the 3rd over itself. After that, it was Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane who took the charge in the middle.

After losing Samson, it was Ajinkya Rahane lead the batting line-up from the front and took the team to a defending total of 152-5 in 20 overs. Chasing 153, Kane Richardson got Manvinder Bisla out.

Just like Ajinkya Rahane, it was Gautam Gambhir's 45 runs' knock kept the Knight Riders in the game. After all these efforts, Kolkata still needed 12 runs of the last over with Shakib on strike. After 5 dramatic balls with the first ball going for a boundary. 3 runs were still required off the last ball. Shakib took a couple and the match was tied.

It was time for a super over. KKR scored 11 runs in the super over with the 4th ball going for a six. But the one thing to be noticed was that Steve Smith pushed all his fielders way back since he knew that if the super over got tied then the result will be given on the basis of boundaries. So a couple of runs couldn't do what a boundary will.

RR needed to pick up 12 runs in the last over to win the match but they also managed just 11 in the over. The super over also tied in this match! Yes, you read that right, super over also tied in this match! But due to a higher boundary count, the match went the Royals way and the won it in style. All thanks to Steve Smith's brilliant presence of mind that helped them clinch the victory.

#5 Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 2013

The IPL 2013 was no less than a daily soap. Just like those TV serials, the edition was also full of drama and suspense. On one hand, the Massive Gaylestorm of 175 runs in a match and then RCB registering the highest ever total of 263 runs in T20 cricket.

While on the other hand, those incidents of spot-fixing. The season had faced many ups and downs. In the end, Mumbai Indians got a chance to lift the silverware by beating Chennai Super Kings in the final.

The tournament was made more special as it witnessed two super overs in one season. This had never happened in the past seasons. The first super over was played between the Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Here is how it went through.

With Virat Kohli and Moises Henriques becoming the highest run-scorer for RCB by scoring 46 runs and 44 runs respectively, RCB posted a total of 130 runs in 20 overs. This more seemed like a cakewalk for the Sunrisers but as they say, low scoring matches are always interesting to watch.

SRH lost its first wicket on the score of only 4 runs and after two economical spells by Unadkat and Henriques. Hyderabad also managed to score 130 runs and the match was tied.

It was time for the first super over of the year 2013. The Sunrisers batting first scored 4 runs from the first 3 balls and all thanks to the couple sixes hit by Cameroon White in that Vinay Kumar's over, the home team managed to score 20 runs.

Chasing 21 in 6 balls, the RCB captain Virat Kohli along with Chris Gayle came out to bat. Dale Steyn was given the ball. After a brilliant bowling display by the South African legend, RCB managed to score only 15 runs in the over and handed over the win to the Sunrisers Hyderabad. This match will always be considered as one of the best matches ever in the history of IPL

#4 Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Night Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore 2008

18th April 2008. The day when the best league in the world started. The day when a revolution in the cricketing world took place. Yes, on 18th April 2008, the Indian Premier League commenced. The format was new to many of us. Yet, we were all going mad to watch the tournament. Even those who once used to call T20 as mickey-mouse cricket were eager to watch the tournament.

After the huge opening ceremony, the first match of the championship was to be played between the Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders and Vijay Mallya's Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Sourav Ganguly and Brendon McCullum came out to bat for KKR. What happened next is unforgettable, especially for the bowlers of RCB. Brendon McCullum scored 158 runs in 73 balls cracking 10 fours and 13 sixes.

The ridiculous ease with which Baz was hitting the RCB bowlers, ask any of them about that innings, "Either he had spring in his willow or that wasn't a willow it was a magic wand!" is all that they'll say. The brutal power of which he was hitting the length ball was dreadful and awful from a bowlers point of view!

With the help of such a vivacious knock, KKR posted a total of 222 runs in 20 overs. RCB were not able to handle so much of pressure and were bundled out on 82 runs. Apart from Praveen Kumar (18 runs) none of their batsmen were able to touch the double-digit mark. Even the likes of Rahul Dravid and Jaques Kallis got out on the score of 2 and 8 respectively.

The league had a beautiful start. The best league in the world literally commenced in the best possible way!

#3 Royal Challengers Bangalore

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Sunrisers Hyderabad 2015

The IPL 2015 was the 8th edition of the league. The tournament featured from 8 April to 24 May. The season was won by Mumbai Indians who defeated Chennai Super Kings in the final of the IPL. MI's captain Rohit Sharma was awarded the Man of the Match in the finals for scoring 50 runs in 26 balls.

The 52nd match of the IPL 2015 was played between RCB and SRH. Rain delayed the match and the 20 overs' match was now reduced to 11 overs for each team. With David Warner scoring 52 runs in 32 balls and Henriques scoring 57 runs in 22 balls, SRH posted a monstrous total of 135 runs in 11 Overs.

The drizzle started again at the end of the first innings which developed into a full-fledged rain. This ate some more overs and now RCB were given the target of 81 in 6 overs. The chase was difficult but not impossible.

With an Asking rate of 13, Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli came out to bat for the Royal Challengers. After the rain stopped, Gaylestorm started in the RJIC stadium of Hyderabad which included 35 runs in just 10 balls. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Dale Steyn were the biggest victims of this onslaught.

Moises Henriques bowled the third over beautifully and not only dismissed Chris Gayle but also got the wicket of AB De Villiers in the same over itself. It was all up to Virat Kohli now.

The RCB Captain held his cool and then went berserk in the last over while digging out two perfect yorkers for two boundaries. 4 runs were still required from the last 2 balls and it was the premature celebration from the SRH captain David Warner that won the game for RCB.

At the 2nd last ball of the match, Virat Kohli lofted a shot in the air which was easily caught by Warner who was standing one foot away from boundary ropes. But unfortunately, in the hurry of celebrating the wicket, Warner took a step behind and his boots touched the boundary ropes and it was given as a six.

RCB won the match and now it was Virat Kohli who did his trademark celebration by jumping in the air and screaming. This match was a big lesson for David Warner that over-excitement can sometimes cost you a whole match.

#2 Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals 2014

The last league match of IPL 2014 was to be played between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. The chances for the playoffs were almost sealed for the Royals as they had 14 points in 13 matches with a respectable net run rate.

While the other team i.e., Mumbai Indians had very fewer chances to make it to playoffs as they had 12 points in 13 matches with a poor net run rate. MI could have only qualified in the playoffs if they would have defeated RR in either 14.3 overs or by 42 runs. This looked tough but as they say, cricket is a game of uncertainties.

MI winning the toss elected to bowl first. The Rajasthan batsmen Sanju Samson and Karun Nair scored half-centuries and then with the help of the finishing touch of James Faulkner, RR set a total of 189 runs in 20 overs which meant MI had to chase 190 runs in 14.3 overs to make it to the playoffs.

Mumbai sent Lendl Simmons and Michael Hussey as their two openers. Both the openers went back to the dugout in under 5 overs. Mumbai soon lost the wicket of Kieron Pollard and Rohit Sharma as well.

On one end, the wickets kept on falling, and on the other end, Corey Anderson held his calm and then took the charge. He built an ebullient partnership with Ambati Rayudu and made the impossible look possible.

MI scored 181 runs in 13 overs and needed 9 runs in 3 balls to qualify for the playoffs. Ambati Rayudu smashed a six on the 2nd ball of the over and then Mumbai required 2 runs from 1 ball.

Mumbai was able to take just 1 run from the last ball and the scores were then levelled. Now the condition was that MI needed to hit a boundary (either a 4 or a 6) on the next ball to qualify for the playoffs.

Due to Rayudu being run out in the previous ball, out came Aditya Tare. He smacked the ball for sixer towards the long leg and fetched a miracle. Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs and then those shirtless celebrations after winning the game were truly memorable.

Corey Anderson was awarded the Man of the Match for his mighty knock of 95 runs in 44 balls. This match and this sort of finish by the Mumbai Indians batsmen left us all befuddled.

#1 Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab 2010

The Chennai Super Kings were facing the Kings XI Punjab in the 54th match of the IPL 2010 at Dharamshala. The visiting team had to record a victory to keep their hopes alive for the semi-finals. CSK was yet to win its maiden IPL title. The team had a terrible start in the season as they had started their campaign by winning just 2 out of their first 7 games.

The Punjab opener Shaun Marsh went on to score a massive half century (88 runs) which helped the KXIP to set a huge target. The finishing role by Irfan Pathan was an icing on the cake as the Kings XI finished their innings on the score of 192 runs with the loss of 7 wickets. CSK chasing 193, lost both of its openers early.

Once Raina got out, winning the match and qualifying for the playoffs seemed almost impossible for the Super Kings. But hold on. Out came the CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

He held his calm and built a really good partnership with Badrinath. There were still 40 runs required from the last 3 overs and 29 from the last two. The stage was set for MS Dhoni. The former Indian captain brutally thrashed the Punjab bowlers all around the park.

After all these efforts, Chasing a mammoth 193 was still not easy. 16 were still required off the last over. MSD was on strike and Irfan Pathan was the bowler. Dhoni smashed Irfan Pathan for a four and two Massive Sixes to take his side into the playoffs with two balls to spare.

The blend of brutal force and finesse in the CSK captain's inning was indeed a delight to watch. He simply made people chortle at the species they call 'Bowlers'. And then him smacking his head after winning it for his team emanated joy amongst all the CSK fans. At the end of the season, CSK went on to become the champions of IPL 2010.