IPL 2018: Top 5 batting performances so far

Its been just 2 weeks since the 11th Edition of Indian Premier League began and it has already seen numerous nail-biting finishes and thrilling encounters.

The season saw the return of CSK and RR after 2 years but there are big names who will miss this year's IPL which it includes the likes of David Warner, Steve Smith, and Mitchell Starc to name a few.

Only 4 teams have won batting first and it looks as if this season will be the year of the batsmen with already 3 centuries being scored in the first two weeks.

This season has seen many scintillating performances by the batsmen who have managed to secure victory for their respective teams from the jaws of defeat. That being said let us look at some top performances by the batsmen who managed to turn the tides into their team's favor.

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#5 Sam Billings (CSK vs KKR)

Billing's played the innings of his life

Chennai faced Kolkata in their second match after securing victory over their rivals Mumbai Indians in a thrilling encounter.

Deciding to bat first KKR put up a mammoth score of 205, courtesy of Andre Russel's marvelous innings.

Shane Watson and Ambati Rayadu gave a flying start to Chennai's innings, scoring over 70 runs in their first 5 overs. But after Watson's dismissal, Chennai scored at a very slow rate and kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Chennai were in a spot of bother when Sam Billings walked out with only 101 runs on the board with just 9 overs left to play. He stitched together a crucial partnership of 54 runs along with Dhoni.

After Dhoni's dismissal, Billings came on his own and changed the tide of the game by scoring 56 off just 23 balls which included just 2 fours and 5 huge sixes with an incredible strike rate of 243.

Though Billings didn't finish off the game, his innings laid the foundation for CSK to snatch another victory from the jaws of defeat.

#4 AB de Villiers (RCB vs KXIP)

De Villiers played a valiant knock

There were high expectations out of the RCB camp after the side finally had a balanced lineup with quality players for every position. It was soon shattered with a loss to KKR in their opening match.

RCB faced Punjab in their second match and were able to restrict the strong Punjab lineup to just 155 with some splendid bowling by Umesh Yadav. RCB got off to a terrible start losing Brendon McCullum in the very first over.

De Kock and De Villiers steadied the innings before De Kock was bowled over by R. Ashwin. RCB were in a familiar position with their star-studded batting lineup failing to deliver and depending on Virat And AB heavily. RCB had just 87 runs on board with only 9 overs left.

De Villiers played cautiously along with Mandeep sing who put up a 50+ partnership. The game was decided in RCB's favor when de Villiers took on Mujeeb Ur Rahman and hit two sixes with the first six just clearing the boundary.

De Villiers was dismissed few balls later, but it was too little too late and RCB comfortably won the game in the end.

De Villiers scored 57 off 40 balls which included 2 fours and 4 sixes.

#3 Jason Roy (MI vs DD)

Roy held the innings together

Delhi faced Mumbai in their third match and both the teams for looking for their first win of the campaign.

Delhi had won the toss and decided to bowl first. Mumbai posted a huge total of 195 in their 20 overs with contributions by their top 4 batsmen.

The inconsistent batting lineup faced a tough task as their captain Gautham Gambhir was out of touch and Rishabh Pant was the only inform batsmen.

But Jason Roy thought otherwise and took control of the innings from the very first over. Roy's attacking mindset allowed Gambhir to try and settle down but was dismissed after the team reached the score of 50 runs.

In came Rishabh Pant and the duo put up a partnership of 79 runs. Mumbai finally managed to get a breakthrough with the dismissal of Pant. It was on Roy to try and get DD over the target.

Delhi were in trouble when Glen Maxwell was dismissed with only 135 runs on the board and Mumbai were back in the game.

But Roy never let the DD innings go out of control and also kept his innings going at a rapid pace. Roy was joined by Shreyas Iyer and the duo took DD home in the final ball of the innings with 1 needed off the final delivery.

Roy scored an unbeaten 91 off 53 balls which included 6 sixes and 4 fours with a strike rate of 171.

#2 Dwayne Bravo (CSKvs MI)

Bravo demolished MI bowlers

It was Chennai's first match since their 2 years hiatus from the IPL and they faced none other than their bitter rivals Mumbai Indians. The match had a lot of expectations and it delivered in a fantastic way.

Chennai had won the toss and opted to bowl first, Mumbai put up a reasonable score of 165 runs thanks to Krunal Pandya's late cameo.

Chennai got off to a flying start but everything came crashing down after Watson's dismissal. From 42 for the loss of 1 wicket Chennai slipped to 54 for 4. Jadeja and Bravo were able to control the innings for some time before Jadeja got carried away and was dismissed with just 75 on the scoreboard after the end of 11th over.

Chennai was down and out of the match before Dwayne Bravo decided otherwise. Bravo demolished the Mumbai bowlers and smashed the ball all around the park. Bravo was dismissed in the last ball of the 19th over and Chennai needed 10 runs off the last over with just 1 wicket left.

Kedhar Jadhav who had walked back retired hurt came out to bat and finished the innings for Chennai which included a marvelous six over the fine leg boundary.

Bravo played an unbelievable knock of 68 off just 30 balls which included just 3 fours and 7 huge sixes with a tremendous strike rate of 226 which helped Chennai get over the line with 1 ball to spare.

#1 MS Dhoni (CSK vs RCB)

Dhoni was in prime form against RCB

RCB vs CSK is a big money match and it delivered on different levels. After losing the toss RCB were made to bat first and posted a huge total of 205 runs courtesy of some excellent batting by AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock.

Chennai got off to a bad start losing Watson in the first over. The runs kept coming and at the same time Chennai was losing wickets regularly. Dhoni walked in when the team was struggling at 74 in the 9th over. Dhoni and Rayudu would occasionally hit boundaries and played cautiously to Yuzvendra Chahal who was getting some pretty good turn off the pitch.

Dhoni never seemed to lose his calm and stitched together a match-winning partnership of 101 runs along with Ambati Rayadu. Rayadu was dropped earlier by Umesh Yadav which might have been a turning point in the match.

With 16 needed off the final over Dwayne Bravo knicked the ball to the boundary and followed it up with a six. Dhoni was given the strike after a single was taken with 5 needs off 3 balls and Dhoni finished it off in a familiar style.

Dhoni knew what the length would be as Corey Anderson would repeatedly bowl on the same line, he shuffled around the off stump and smashed the ball over the mid-wicket boundary completing a marvelous run chase with 2 balls to spare.

Dhoni scored an unbeaten 70 off just 30 balls which astonishingly had 1 boundary and 7 massive sixes with a strike rate of 2015.