IPL 2018: Man of the Match performances across a decade of IPL finals

The Indian Premier League is a long tournament, one in which teams look to seize momentum and capitalize on it to have a successful campaign. A player needs to be at his consistent best and also match it with his fitness levels to be able to have a memorable season. Some players rule the entire edition while others end up showing spark in just a match or two.

Although, the one who can stand up when his team needs it the most and raise his game in the most crucial of all battles become the talk of the town. Such is the pace of the T20 format that a dozen runs scored in a couple of balls can overshadow the class of a well-compiled half-century.

Let us recall performances of players who rose to the occasion of the IPL final and helped their team achieve glory. No player has managed to achieve this feat twice.

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#10 Yusuf Pathan (2008)

Yusuf Pathan was key to the underdogs' success

Considered as the underdogs in the inaugural edition of the IPL, Rajasthan Royals shocked everyone when they made their way to the final. Riding on the back of a string of superb performances by budding young talent under the inspired leadership of spin maestro Shane Warne, the Royals' platform served as a launchpad for the destructive Yusuf Pathan.

Bowling first against Chennai Super Kings, Yusuf picked the first 3 wickets, dismissing Parthiv Patel, S Vidyut and hard-hitting batsman Albie Morkel. He finished with excellent figures of 3/22 from his four overs and played a huge role in restricting CSK total to 164.

His night was not over though. Coming in at a stage when his team was 42-3, the right-handed Baroda batsman blasted his way to a 39-ball 56 which included 3 fours and 4 sixes.

#9 Anil Kumble (2009)

Kumble's remarkable spell was not enough for an RCB victory

The only Man of the Match performance in an IPL final that happened to be in a losing cause, Anil Kumble played an instrumental role in taking his team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, within striking distance of laying their hands on the glittering trophy.

Leading his side aggressively, after the mid-season departure of appointed captain Kevin Pietersen, Kumble chose to bowl first against a batting heavy Deccan Chargers. Opening the bowling himself, he laid the perfect foundation by dismissing his counterpart Adam Gilchrist with just his third ball of the match.

In what will go down as one of the most beautiful and effective spells of spin bowling in IPL history, the clever bowler accounted for important wickets of Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma as he ended his four overs with 4 wickets at a miserly 16 runs.

Having restricted the Chargers to 143, victory shall have been a walk in the park for RCB. The pressure of a run-chase in a final got to them and they fell short by 6 runs. Quite ironically, Kumble was at the non-striker’s end at the completion of the match, only to see his memorable performance go in vain.

#8 Suresh Raina (2008)

Raina has not missed a single game for the Chennai Super Kings

Chennai Super Kings took on Mumbai Indians in the final battle of the third season of the IPL. Winning the toss, MS Dhoni chose to bat first and CSK got off to a slow start. At 67/3 after 11.2 overs, they required an impetus to take them to a fighting total.

The much-needed acceleration was provided by none other than Chennai’s most dependable batsman, Suresh Raina. The left-handed batsman faced 35 balls for his unbeaten 57 runs, an innings that included three fours and as many shots over the fence.

After helping his team to a total of 168, Raina was called upon to roll his golden arm over. The 12th over of the Mumbai innings, bowled by the off-spinner, proved to be the turning point of the game as first a well-set Abhishek Nayar got run-out and then Raina trapped pinch-hitter Harbhajan Singh LBW, leaving the Mumbai boys with a tough task at hands.

Kieron Pollard’s lower order belligerence was not enough to stop the men in yellow from lifting the IPL trophy.

#7 Murali Vijay (2011)

Vijay missed out on becoming the first IPL final centurion by just 5 runs

Chennai Super Kings, who were playing their third IPL final in four years, were up against 2009 runners-up Royal Challengers Bangalore in the title clash of 2011. Just like the previous two instances, CSK batted first in this match that was played in front of their home crowd at the M.A Chidambaram Stadium.

RCB bowlers had a nightmarish evening as they were plundered by the opening pair of Mike Hussey and local boy Murali Vijay. The right-handed Indian opener played shots to all parts of the ground as he scored 95 runs from the 52 balls he faced, hitting four boundaries and six sixes in the process.

He narrowly missed out on the three-figure mark but the 159-run opening stand meant that RCB had a mountain of 205 runs to climb if they wanted to wave the victory flag.

The star-studded RCB batting line-up fell like a pack of cards as they succumbed to the pressure and went on to lose by 58 runs. Murali Vijay was awarded Man of the Match for his match-winning knock.

#6 Manvinder Bisla (2012)

Bisla's innings will go down as one of the best in the league

2010, 2011 and 2012 IPL finals had a lot in common. In all three instances, Chennai Super Kings was one of the finalists, MS Dhoni won the toss and CSK batted first. What was different were their opponents and what made 2012 differ from the other two was its result.

Kolkata Knight Riders had finally shed the tag of being an under-performing team with Gambhir at their helm of affairs. Determined for victory, they set out to chase a stiff 190 set by Chennai. Opener and captain Gautam Gambhir fell in the first over as Jacques Kallis joined wicket-keeper batsman Manvinder Bisla.

The Haryana born right-hander went on to play the innings of his life as he strung a 136-run partnership with Kallis. Scoring briskly, Bisla faced just 48 balls for his hefty contribution of 89 runs. His glitzy knock included eight hits to the fence and five over it. Having brought the match equation in favour of his team, Bisla lost his wicket, missing out on a well deserved century and with it the chance of becoming the first centurion in an IPL final.

Manoj Tiwary and Shakib Al Hasan in the lower middle order ensured that Bisla’s effort ended up on the winning side as KKR won their first ever IPL title.

#5 Kieron Pollard (2013)

Pollard was the first overseas player to achieve this feat

Chennai’s pattern of featuring in the IPL finals continued in the 2013 edition as well and this time they faced Mumbai Indians in the championship clash. Winning the toss, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat first failed miserably as they were reeling at 16-3. After 9.3 overs and the scoreboard reading 52-4, Windies mega star Kieron Pollard came out to bat.

Of the remaining 63 balls in the innings, Pollard faced 32, scoring boundaries off 10 of them- 7 fours and 3 sixes. Two of those hits into the stands came off the last two balls of the innings as Mumbai set Chennai 149 to win.

If Mumbai’s start with the bat was bad, Chennai’s went beyond the superlative. At 3-3 in the first 10 balls, CSK needed something special to stop the Mumbai bandwagon. 'Captain Cool' Dhoni was fighting a lone battle as he saw his partners fall at the other end.

Ashwin, who showed some resistance and hung in with his skipper was dismissed by Pollards’ medium pace bowling as Mumbai beat Chennai by 23 runs and win their maiden IPL title.

#4 Manish Pandey (2014)

Manish Pandey was the first Indian in the history of the IPL to score a century

It was refreshing to see two teams, none of them wearing yellow, contesting for the IPL title in 2014's final played at the buzzing M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. One-time champion KKR took on Kings XI Punjab in what turned out to be a high scoring encounter.

Put in to bat by Gambhir, Punjab were in a spot of bother at 30-2 after 5.1 overs after which Wriddhiman Saha, sent ahead of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, became the first player to hit a century in an IPL final. He remained unbeaten on 115, which he got off just 55 balls.

Set a daunting 200 to win, KKR needed a reply to Saha’s brilliance and Manish Pandey rose to the occasion. Hitting 7 fours and 6 sixes, local boy Pandey fell short by 6 runs of what would have been the second century of the match.

With just 21 runs left after his dismissal, Piyush Chawla’s batting exploits ensured that his teammate’s 94 bettered the effort of their opposition’s wicketkeeper.

#3 Rohit Sharma (2015)

Hitman Sharma has lifted the coveted trophy for a record three times

Rohit Sharma’s love affair with the Eden Gardens is an established fact in cricket: whether it is Tests (his debut hundred), ODIs (the magical 264 against Sri Lanka) or the IPL, Rohit has always made his presence felt when playing at the majestic venue.

The 2015 edition saw Mumbai Indians battling it out against IPL’s most consistent team- Chennai Super Kings - who were making their sixth IPL final appearance. Batting first, Mumbai rode on the back of scintillating knocks from Lendl Simmons (68) and 36-run knocks from both Pollard and Rayudu.

Rohit, though, was the showstopper as the classy right-hander showcased his lazy elegance on his way to an unbeaten 26-ball half-century that consisted six fours and 2 sixes.

Chasing 202 for a third IPL title, Chennai fell well short by 41 runs as captain Rohit Sharma perfectly rotated his bowling resources and set fields which the CSK batsman fell trap to.

#2 Ben Cutting (2016)

Cutting is the only Australian to have achieved this feat

The 2016 edition of the IPL final saw Warner’s Sunrisers Hyderabad taking on Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore in the latter’s den in India's Garden City. Both captains had played huge roles in their teams’ journey to the final.

After getting off to a good start, Hyderabad slumped to 147-5 with just four overs left and Warner, Dhawan, Yuvraj and Henriques back in the hut. Australian all-rounder Ben Cutting seized the opportunity as he smoked four sixes and three fours in his 15-ball stay at the crease which cost Bangalore 39 runs.

RCB began their chase with 209 in sight and looked well on track at 114-0 with both Gayle and Kohli going beserk. Cutting once again changed the course of the match, this time with his bowling. He made the all-important breakthrough by dismissing Gayle for 76 and also picked up the prized scalp of KL Rahul, as RCB fell short by 8 runs and once again succumbed to the ‘chokers’ tag in the IPL.

Man of the Match Ben Cutting’s performance can be regarded as one the most impactful all-round one’s in IPL history.

#1 Krunal Pandya (2017)

Krunal is a utility player and a match winner

The 2017 IPL final- an all Maharashtrian affair- was contested between Mumbai Indians and the interim franchise Rising Pune Supergiants. In what seemed to be a one-sided match, Krunal Pandya’s batting brilliance, coupled with Pune’s lack of application turned it into a low-scoring thriller.

Batting first, Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals as their top order failed. With power hitters Pollard and Hardik Pandya failing to make an impact, Krunal’s presence at the crease was Mumbai’s only hope for a decent total. Playing according to match situation, the elder Pandya batted intelligently as he scored 47 runs from 38 balls with 26 of those coming in boundaries.

Requiring just 50 from the final eight overs, Pune looked well on course for a victory when they started losing the plot. Mumbai’s disciplined bowling and fielding led to Pune’s collapse as they fell short of the modest 129 run target by just a solitary run.

Krunal Pandya was adjudged as Man of the Match and this was one of the reasons why Mumbai bought him back through their RTM for the 2018 IPL season.