IPL 2019: Top 5 Batting knocks of the Season

T20 cricket is often said to be a batsman's game. And a high-scoring T20 match is everyone's favorite form of entertainment, with batsmen going beserk and hitting the ball to all parts of the ground.

Ever since its inception, the Indian Premier League has gifted fans across the world with many high scoring thrillers, and the IPL 2019 was no exception.

There were plenty of matches this season when the batsmen took on the opposition's attack from the first ball and went on to play spectacular innings filled with some big hits thereby taking the game away from them.

Here are the top-5 knocks of the 2019 IPL season:

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#5 Jonny Bairstow's 114 runs off 56 balls vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Bairstow smashed the RCB bowlers to all parts of the ground

Playing in his first IPL season, Jonny Bairstow had started off quietly notching 30+ scores in his first two games.

His partner at the other end Australian southpaw David Warner who was returning after a one-year exile had already scored two fifties in his first two games putting some pressure on the Englishman.

With the return of last year's Orange Cap winner, Kane Williamson, imminent Bairstow had his work cut out in his next match against RCB.

Opening the innings, Bairstow was quickly out of the blocks hitting two fours in the first over of the match against his countryman Moeen Ali.

By the end of the powerplay, Bairstow had scored 32 runs off 20 balls and in the process had outscored David Warner, something that only a select few batsmen can boast about.

He opened his shackles in the ninth over, facing a 16-year-old leg spinner Prayas Ray Barman and showed no remorse to the young bowler smashing him for two fours and a huge six as he reached his first IPL half-century in 28 balls.

He followed it up by smashing Colin de Grandhomme for two consecutive sixes as Sunrisers Hyderabad finished the first set of 10 overs at 105 for no loss.

In the 12th over, Bairstow targeted Umesh Yadav as he tonked him for a maximum over long-on and hit two fours on either side of the pitch to enter into the 80's.

Four overs later, he placed the first ball from Prayas Ray Barman wide enough of the long-on fielder to pick up a brace and score his first IPL century. He smashed the very next ball over long-on for a maximum and then finished off the over with another biggie in the same region.

Bairstow finally perished to Chahal, trying to hoick one into stands but his knock of 114 set the tone as SRH finished with 231 runs off their 20 overs. The opening partnership of 185 was the highest ever in the IPL.

#4 Rishabh Pant's quickfire 27-ball-78 vs Mumbai Indians

Pant's innings helped DC set a target of 214

The third match in the VIVO IPL 2019 was between perennial underachievers Delhi Capitals and slow-starters Mumbai Indians.

Rohit Sharma called the toss correctly and chose to bowl first on a ground where puddles of dew would have formed by the time they came out to bat. Delhi Capitals needed to score big to stand a chance against hosts.

The Delhi Capitals were well placed at 112-3 at the end of the 13th over when Rishabh Pant joined Shikhar Dhawan in the middle. DC needed a boost as anything below 190 would not have been sufficient on the pitch they were playing on.

Pant started rather uncharacteristically scoring just the one run in the first five balls he faced but the Delhi batsman upped the ante soon carting Ben Cutting to two fours and one six in the next over.

DC lost Dhawan at the start of the 16th over leaving all the onus on Pant to set a competitive total for MI. Pant obliged by smashing his team India mate Hardik Pandya for two maximums and a four in that same over.

By the end of the 17th over, Pant had scored 41 off 15 balls and Rohit Sharma sensed that his team would end up chasing a lot more if Pant stayed till the end so he decided to bring in his best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah.

The stage was set for the most anticipated clash of the night, Pant vs Bumrah. The first ball from Bumrah, a pinpoint yorker on the stumps Pant goes deep into the crease and unleashes a helicopter-esque shot depositing the ball over the square-leg boundary for a maximum.

One ball later, he smashed the ball into the mid-wicket boundary to bring up his half-century in just 18 balls.

Next up in the 19th over was the 17-year-old debutant Rasikh Salam and Pant showed no respite for the young pacer smashing him for two sixes and one four including a one-handed six over long-on.

The final over of the match saw Pant facing Bumrah again and he continued to toy with one of the best death-bowlers in the world by carting him for a maximum over deep-square leg before collecting a couple of singles to finish with 78 runs off 27 balls.

Pant's innings helped DC set a target of 214 for the then three-time champions MI.

#3 Kieron Pollard's whirlwind 83 off 31 vs Kings XI Punjab

Pollard helped MI overcome the odds against Kings XI Punjab

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab is the clash with the most even head-to-head record in the IPL, where MI just edges KXIP with 12 wins to 11.

At the Wankhede Stadium, it's an even four wins each. Both these sides had already played each other in the tournament with KXIP comfortably running out as victors. Now back at their home ground, it was revenge time for MI.

Batting first KXIP set a daunting target of 198 for MI, courtesy of a century by opener KL Rahul.

MI started off their chase rather slowly and was 56-2 in 7.4 overs when Pollard came out to the crease.

He took his time getting his eye in scoring just three in his first five balls, but broke the shackles the next delivery he faced as Pollard smashed Ravichandran Ashwin for a six over long-on.

That was all he needed to get going as he smashed Sam Curran for two sixes and a four in the next over.

Pollard took quite a liking towards Ashwin's off-spinners as he muscled two of his deliveries to the stands, collecting 19 of his over.

By the end of the 14th over, MI still needed 70 off 36 balls and to everyone's dismay the next two overs saw Pollard play just three legal deliveries as the required run-rate jumped over 13 runs per over.

During that time period, both the Pandya brothers, leaving Pollard with pacer Alzarri Joseph as a partner at the other end.

That didn't deter him from his natural game as he smashed Curran for two maximums in the 17th to bring up his half-century off 22 balls.

32 were needed off the last 12 balls, the penultimate over was being bowled by Sam Curran, Pollard started off with a boundary before smashing two sixes on either side of the ground to bring the equation down to 15 off the last over.

Ankit Rajpoot was handed the responsibility of bowling the last over with Pollard on strike and he started off in the worst way possible, bowling a juicy full-toss which Pollard dispatched over deep mid-wicket to make matters worse he overstepped, so MI got seven runs without a legal delivery being bowled and equation came down to eight required off six balls.

Pollard seemed to be in a hurry as he smashed the next ball to the fine leg boundary and MI was one hit away from a miraculous victory but unfortunately the Windies all-rounder perished trying to clear the ropes on the next ball and finished with 83 off 31 balls with three fours and 10 sixes at a strike rate of 267.74.

#2 Andre Russell's 13-ball-48 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Russell turned the game on its head

Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders has always promised some exciting moments. The first of the two matchups this season was played at RCB's home ground the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Batting first RCB set a mammoth total of 205 runs on the board courtesy of a half-century each by star batsmen Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers.

KKR started off the chase well and were 94/2 at the halfway mark but tight spells by Chahal and Negi restricted them to just 40 runs in the next 5 overs leaving them with 72 runs required off the next 30 balls at a required run rate of 14.4.

The 16th over saw KKR lose the well-set Nitish Rana to the wily Chahal and the next batsman in was last match's savior Andre Russell. In the next eight balls, Russell could face just 2 legal deliveries for 1 run while on the other end his captain perished trying a shot too many.

At the end of the 17th over, there were two new batsmen in and the equation read 53 runs required off 18 balls.

Siraj was given the responsibility of bowling the first of the last three overs, the first two balls were swing-and-miss by Russell but he smoked the next one over deep mid-wicket for a maximum and to make matters worse for RCB it was a waist-high no-ball by Siraj, his second of the match and hence was ruled ineligible from bowling furthermore in the match.

Stoinis was picked to bowl the remaining over, Russell was in the mood now and he deposited the first two balls from Stoinis into the stands as KKR collected 23 off the 18th.

With 30 required off 12, Virat went his most experienced bowler in XI for the 19th, Tim Southee. Shubman Gill took a single off the first ball as Russell took strike for the next 5 match-deciding balls.

First up, Southee bowled it in the slot and Russell clobbered him over deep-mid wicket for a six, he followed it up with a short and wide ball which the KKR all-rounder deposited over third-man for another maximum.

Southee tried to counter by attempting a yorker, which ends up as low full toss and Russell obliged by muscling it over long-on for another maximum.

Southee steamed in for the penultimate ball and directed it over Russell's head, who arched his back and ramped it over the keeper for a four.

In a last ditch-attempt to salvage something out of the over, Southee attempted another yorker but missed it marginally and Russell blasted it over long-off for another six as KKR collected 29 off the 19th.

Russell finished with 48 runs off 13 balls with seven sixes and one four at a strike rate of 369.23 as KKR ran off victors with five balls to spare.

#1 Hardik Pandya's destructive 91 off 34 vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Pandya finished with 91 runs off 34 balls with nine sixes and six fours at a strike rate of 267.65

This is the only innings in the list where the player ended up on the losing side. This matchup between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians carried a different value for each team as KKR needed to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. On the other hand, MI needed a win to solidify their place in the league table.

Bating first, KKR set a monstrous target 233 for MI, courtesy of a fifty each by Shubman Gill, Andre Russell and Chris Lynn.

MI made a royal mess of the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals and were 58 for 4 in 8.2 overs when Hardik Pandya came to the crease to replace Suryakumar Yadav. He got into the act quickly as he smashed Chawla for two maximums in the 10th over.

Pandya took a liking for the spinners as he deposited Narine for a six over deep mid-wicket in the 11th and Chawla for another couple of maximums in the 12th.

He targeted pacer Harry Gurney in the next over by hitting him over deep-mid-wicket for a six and then slicing him over cover for a boundary.

He picked up on Narine again as he hit him again over the mid-wicket boundary for a six to bring up his half-century in 17 balls, the fastest 50 of the IPL. The next ball was expertly placed into the gap as Pandya scored a boundary to collect 12 runs off the 14th.

Russell bowled a tight 15th over but Hardik went after Chawla in the next carting him for three consecutive boundaries. Karthik brought back Narine for the 17th and Pandya welcomed him with a four and six off the first two balls as he entered into the 80's by the end of the over.

At the start of the 18th over, MI needed another 59 runs off just 18 balls. Pacer Harry Gurney came into the attack and was imimmediately carved over the square leg boundary for a six and then over the covers for a four as Pandya hit the 90's but Gurney had the last laugh as Hardik perished trying to go over his favorite deep mid-wicket region.

He finished with 91 runs off 34 balls with nine sixes and six fours at a strike rate of 267.65.