IPL: 5 largest victory margins in the IPL

T20 is a format which is exciting and fans expect the game to go right down to the wire. However, there have been a lot of instances where a team completely outplays another one to gain a big victory.

The IPL has become one of the best T20 leagues in the world. It has had numerous close games where the teams have fought tooth and nail till the final over (or final ball). However, here we look at 5 largest margins of victory in the history of the IPL.

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#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Pune Warriors India (130 runs) – 2013

This is a game no that RCB fan or rather no IPL fan can forget. Yes, this is that game in which Christopher Henry Gayle smashed 175.

Pune Warriors India won the toss and opted to field first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a good first over giving away just three runs. In the next over, Chris Gayle just went after Ishwar Pandey and started the carnage. Pandey was hit for 21 runs in his first over. The next couple of overs were quiet as Bhuvneshwar and Ashok Dinda gave away just 9 runs. However, Gayle smashed Mitchell Marsh for 28 runs in the fifth over of the innings and brought up his 50 in just 17 deliveries.

After that, every bowler that was brought into the attack disappeared. In desperation, skipper Aaron Finch brought himself on and was hit for 29 runs with Gayle hitting 4 sixes and 1 four. RCB were past the 100-run mark in 8th over and Gayle was already on 95 off 27 balls. He completed his century in the next over, breaking the record for the fastest T20 hundred. He got there in 30 balls.

The big Jamaican wasn’t done yet. He continued on his merry way and scored a staggering 175 in just 66 balls. AB de Villiers chipped in with a brutal 8-ball 31 and propelled RCB’s score to 263. It was the highest score in the history of the IPL. Amidst the carnage, Bhuvneshwar Kumar had best figures (4-0-23-0). Gayle hit a staggering 17 sixes throughout his innings.

PWI were never in the chase as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. It was certainly Gayle’s day as he returned to pick up a couple of wickets in the only over he bowled. Pune could just get to 133 in their 20 overs as they slumped to a 130-run defeat.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 263 for 5 (Gayle 175*, AB de Villiers 31, Dinda 2/48) beat Pune Warriors 133 (Smith 41, Marsh 24, Gayle 2-5, Rampaul 2/21)

#4 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab (138 runs) – 2015

Chris Gayle celebrated like Christiano Ronaldo after he got his century

In 2015, RCB didn’t have the best of starts as they lost 3 out of their first 4 games. But they were building good momentum as they had managed to win 3 out of the next 5 games (with one being a washout). On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab had lost 7 games and they needed to win every game to have a chance of making it to the playoffs.

KXIP won the toss and put RCB into bat on a flat track. Once again, Chris Gayle saw through the first over as he made just 1 run off 5 deliveries but he got stuck into Mitchell Johnson in the next. The Aussie pacer was smashed for 2 fours and 2 sixes and Gayle had once again had set the tone. Sandeep Sharma was taken for 24 runs in the next over as RCB got off to a flying start.

He reached his fifty in 22 balls and then went onto to score his 14th T20 hundred and 5th for RCB. The Universe Boss was then dismissed for 117 but AB de Villiers continued the carnage as his 47 helped RCB post 226 in their 20 overs.

In reply, only two KXIP batsmen could get into double figures as they stumbled to a huge defeat. They lost by a staggering margin of 138 runs. Axar Patel scored a 21-ball 40. But KXIP were bowled out for just 88 as Mitchell Starc and Sreenath Aravind took 4 wickets each.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 226 for 3 (Gayle 117, de Villiers 47*, Sandeep Sharma 2/41) beat Kings XI Punjab 88 (Axar 40*, Starc 4-15, Aravind 4-27)

#3 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (140 runs) – 2008

McCullum and Ganguly had opened the batting for KKR

This was the first game in the history of the IPL. RCB were up against KKR and the home side (RCB) elected to field first after winning the toss.

However, they ran into a rampaging Brendon McCullum. The Kiwi batsman just smashed the bowlers to all parts of the Chinnaswamy Stadium. In the second over of the game struck Zaheer Khan for 3 fours and a six to set the ball rolling. No bowler was spared as McCullum smashed 13 sixes and 10 fours on his way to a stunning 158. KKR posted 222/3 in the very first game of the IPL. No other batsman apart from McCullum scored at a strike-rate in excess of 100 (except Mohammed Hafeez who played just 3 balls).

Chasing a mammoth total, except Praveen Kumar who batted at No. 9, none of the RCB batsmen registered double-digit scores and eventually were bowled out for 82. They lasted only 15 overs as Ajit Agarkar took 3 wickets while Ashok Dinda and Sourav Ganguly took 2 wickets each. KKR started off with a massive 140-run victory.

Brief Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 222 for 3 (McCullum 158*, Zaheer 1/38) beat Bangalore Royal Challengers 82 (Praveen Kumar 18*, Agarkar 3-25, Dinda 2/9)

#2 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Lions (144 runs) – 2016

AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli were absolutely phenomenal together

In 2016, RCB had a poor start and hence, in the end, they needed to win the last four games to qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, Gujarat Lions, in their maiden season, were going well and looked well set to make the playoffs.

In the 44th game of IPL 9, Gujarat Lions won the toss and continued the trend of bowling first. RCB began sedately as they lost Gayle in the 4th over. But at 19/1, AB de Villiers joined Virat Kohli in the middle and slowly things started to turn for RCB. They reached 81 in 11 overs. However, what followed was absolute madness. The duo of de Villiers and Kohli went berserk. They smashed a mind-boggling 167 runs in the last 9 overs to push RCB’s score to 248.

Both of them hit their respective centuries making it only the second instance of two batsmen scoring tons in the same T20 innings. The South African star hit a superb 129 in just 52 balls while Kohli struck a fine 109 in 55 balls.

Chasing a mammoth total of 249 was never going to be easy for GL and they crumbled to a big defeat as they were bowled out for 104. Finch top-scored with 37 as Yuzvendra Chahal and Chris Jordan shared 7 wickets between them to propel RCB to a thumping 144-run victory.

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 248 for 3 (De Villiers 129*, Kohli 109, Praveen Kumar 2/45) beat Gujarat Lions 104 (Finch 37, Jordan 4-11, Chahal 3-19)

#1 Mumbai Indians vs Delhi Daredevils (146 runs) – 2017

Pollard was promoted to No. 3 in that game and he made full use of the o

After being put into bat by Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians had a rocking start as they scored 60 in the powerplay. The attack continued after the powerplay as well as Lendl Simmons blazed away to 66 in 43 deliveries. He set up a perfect platform for MI to get a big score.

Kieron Pollard who was sent up to No. 3 them showed his class. The West Indian right-hander hit 5 fours and 4 sixes as he struck a brutal 63 in 35 balls which helped Mumbai Indians get to 212 in their 20 overs.

Having chased down a similar target against Gujarat Lions just a couple of days before, Delhi Daredevils might have had the confidence. However, that confidence might’ve been dented on the first ball of the chase as Sanju Samson was out for a first-ball duck. DD never recovered as they continued to lose wickets and eventually were bowled out for 66. Harbhajan Singh and Karn Sharma took 3 wickets each to hand MI the largest margin of victory in the history of the IPL.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 212 for 3 (Simmons 66, Pollard 63*, Rabada 1/33) beat Delhi Daredevils 66 (Nair 21, Karn 3-11, Harbhajan 3-22, Malinga 2-5)