IPL 2018: Five times tailenders won the match for their team

T20 cricket is a batsman's game, they say. However, both seam bowlers, as well as spinners, have carved a special place for themselves in the shortest format of the game. They have bowled numerous maidens, they've picked up crucial wickets, and they've changed the direction of a tournament with the ball.

Sometimes, they have done it with the bat too.

Let us look at five instances when tailenders managed to take their team home by displaying single-minded composure in the dying seconds of the chase:

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#5 Piyush Chawla: Final, IPL 2014

The seventh edition of the IPL saw Gautam Gambhir lift his second trophy as the captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders. However, it required significant overall effort and a last-over burst from his team to come out on top of Kings XI Punjab in the final of the tournament.

KXIP had dominated the league stage that year and had managed to get one over the mighty Chennai Super Kings in the second qualifier, thereby setting up an exciting clash with the side that had defeated them in the first.

Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. After losing Virender Sehwag early, KXIP regrouped well to reach a powerful total of 199 at the end of 20 overs. The score was powered by a terrific century from Wriddhiman Saha and a well-made fifty from Manan Vohra.

KKR had a scary start to the chase as they lost both their openers, Robin Uthappa and Gambhir, within the first six overs. However, crucial knocks from Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan brought them back into the game.

George Bailey and Co. fought back to scalp as many as five wickets in the space of 29 deliveries in the last chunk of the game. The match went down to the final over of the chase and KKR required 5 runs for clinching the victory.

The equation was 11 off 7 before the last ball of the 19th over, which was dispatched for a massive six over backward square-leg by Piyush Chawla. The Number 8 proved to be the hero of the night as he slammed a low full-toss outside off-stump over point to hit the winning runs off the third delivery of the final over. He raised his arms in the air and ran in the glee of taking his team over the line.

Chawla played an incredible cameo of 13 off just 5 deliveries.

#4 Amit Mishra: GL v DD, IPL 2017

Mishra provided a thrilling end-touch to the chase (Photo credit: AFP)

This match between Suresh Raina’s Gujarat Lions and Zaheer Khan’s Delhi Daredevils was characterized by a terrific knock from an immensely talented youngster, Shreyas Iyer. Chasing a massive target of 196, the right-hander walked into the middle in the second over of the game, wherein his team was struggling at 15 for 2.

Wickets tumbled around him, but Iyer stayed put till the last over of the game. It was an interesting situation, where DD required nine runs off the last six deliveries. It was imperative for the youngster to take his team home, as seven of his teammates had already returned to the pavilion. However, the man from Mumbai was bowled on the second delivery of the over. He made 96 off 57 deliveries.

Not only did he miss out on a well-deserved century, but his wicket also put a dent in DD's chances of winning the tie.

That is when Amit Mishra came to the rescue of the Daredevils.

Coming on to bat when they required 7 runs off 4 deliveries, he slammed two fours off the first two balls that he faced and, quite literally, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The Number 10 batsman completed a thrilling chase at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur and ensured that Iyer’s incredible innings did not go in vain.

#3 Umesh Yadav: RPS vs KKR, IPL 2016

Yadav hit a thumping six into the crowd to take his team home

The ninth edition of the IPL started off in a mundane fashion. One-sided matches marked the first few days of the tournament. However, the two games on April 24 proved to be the turning point of the season. Both went down the wire to decide the winner 40th over of the match.

The evening game was played between MS Dhoni’s Rising Pune Supergiant and Gambhir’s Kolkata Knight Riders. The latter won the toss and chose to field first on a slow wicket. Riding on the back of a half-century from Ajinkya Rahane and a 12-ball-23 by Dhoni, RPS put up a strong total of 160 at the end of 20 overs.

The opening pair of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa endured a rare failure as the former made just 11 runs and the latter fell for a duck. Suryakumar Yadav and Yusuf Pathan steadied the ship in the middle overs but were unable to conserve their wickets to see their team through in the final overs of the game. The home side kept chipping away at the wickets till finally, KKR needed 7 runs off the last over with just three wickets in hand.

Thisara Perera was entrusted with the ball in the pressurizing situation. He stepped up in the first two deliveries by giving away just two runs and scalping the wicket of Chawla. It seemed as if the Sri Lankan would manage to hold the fort together for his team.

However, it was not to be.

Umesh Yadav is fun to watch when he has the willow in his hands: he swings for the fences on every delivery and tends to miss the ball nine times out of ten. However, this instance proved to be the one other time!

The fast-bowler had given away 16 runs in just two overs earlier in the day. However, Yadav made up for his performance with the ball when he smoked a six over long-on to win the game for his side.

#2 Sunil Narine: KKR v KXIP, 2015

This was before Narine's batting exploits were discovered

Considering the fact they have featured on this list thrice, you can definitely say that the KKR tailenders are specialists in finishing off an IPL match. This time around, the Men in Purple and Golden set a record with the chase, as they became the first team to win an IPL match with a one-wicket margin.

What’s funny to note is that the two batsmen who managed to survive at the end of the game were both stranded on zero, despite winning the match for their team.

The hosts were pursuing a hefty target of 184 at the Eden Gardens and their nemesis, yet again, were KXIP.

Gambhir and Co. had lost their way through the chase and were reduced to 171/7 at the end of 18 overs. Sandeep Sharma, George Bailey’s go-to bowler, leaked just five runs in the penultimate over, giving Anureet Singh eight runs to play with for the last over.

He bowled five deliveries in the over, each more thrilling than the previous: after getting a single off the second delivery, Brad Hogg capitulated to a run-out on the very next ball. Chawla smacked a powerful six off the third delivery, only to return to the pavilion after the fourth ball.

After the unfolding of these exhilarating events, KKR required one run off the last two deliveries with two new batsmen (their last batsmen) on the crease. Sunil Narine, whose batting prowess was undiscovered till then, got a leg bye of the fifth delivery and thus, completed the chase for his side in a unique manner.

#1 Sohail Tanvir: Final, IPL 2008

The purple-cap holder stepped up not only with the ball but also the bat (Photo credit: BCCI)

Two bowlers took their team to victory in the final of the first ever edition of a tournament. Only, they did it with the bat.

In the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League, Shane Warne took the Rajasthan Royals to the title with his dynamic and charismatic leadership. The team had his brand stamped all over it and his incredible on-field presence ushered him and his teammates to the ultimate glory in 2008.

RR played the final against CSK and required 8 runs off the last over to win it. All their major batsmen were back in the hut and two bowlers, Warne and Sohail Tanvir, were on the crease then. The Men in Yellow had fought tooth and nail to get Rajasthan in a vulnerable position they were in at that moment.

Laxmipathy Balaji was to bowl the last over of the game.

However, he gave away two crucial wides midway through the same. Thereafter, it became all too easy for the RR batsmen, as they kept collecting quiet singles throughout. With one run required off the final delivery, Tanvir kept his cool and guided the ball to wide mid-on to take his team to the victory, and the trophy, with 3 wickets remaining.