Top ten T20 matches of all time: Part 2

We continue with our list of top ten T20 matches of all time.

You can read Part 1 here: Top ten T20 matches of all time: Part 1

West Indies vs. New Zealand, 2008

Call it a coincidence, but the two teams that introduced the world to the bowl-out were also involved in the first super-over or ‘one-over-eliminator’ ever to be used to settle a tie in international matches at the same venue – Auckland’s Eden Park.

After the match ended in a tie with both teams scoring 155 runs, Chris Gayle walked out to take on Daniel Vettori in the ‘super-over’. Gayle smashed him all over the park, scoring 25 runs, backing up his innings of 67 in the match.

Sulieman Benn took the ball for the West Indies and restricted the reply to 15 runs, taking two wickets to exact the revenge of their last loss. New Zealand would go on to be at the end of two back-to-back super-over defeats in the 2012 T20 World Cup.

Mumbai Indians beat Chennai, 2012, IPL 5

The biggest rivalry of the Indian Premier League by a distance served a mouth-watering contest at the business end of the tournament. Both the teams were on the verge of qualifying for the play-offs and the game involved the most stellar players of the tournament.

Chennai put up a good score on the board as Murali Vijay and Dwayne Bravo chipped in with 40 runs each. MS Dhoni played a characteristic innings to provide impetus to the innings in the lower middle order.

Mumbai Indians started off badly, losing James Franklin at the top, but Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar got together to put up an excellent 126 run-partnership. However, once Tendulkar was dismissed for 74 runs, Dhoni tightened his grip on the match using R. Jadeja’s left-arm orthodox spin.

It seemed an impossible task for MI with 15 runs to make off the last 4 balls of the match and RP Singh on strike. Dwayne Smith, who was at the non-striker’s end, like the stuff of dreams, asked RP Singh to take a single and leave it to him. He did so and Dwayne Smith smashed a four, a six and then another four off the last three balls to win the match.

ICC T20 World Cup 2012 – West Indies vs. New Zealand

The third tied match between these two teams on this list. This was a crucial match for both the teams as New Zealand and West Indies were playing to stay alive in the competition. New Zealand had already participated in one tied match in the competition so far and were going to be a part of another. West Indies, the eventual champions, would have looked back at this game and thought that an ICC event could have slipped out of their hands.

New Zealand did well to stop the Chris Gayle juggernaut, especially when he had already taken off, scoring 30 runs in just 13 balls, before Tim Southee got his key scalp. West Indies kept finding small contributions from the middle order, allowing them to put up 139 runs on the board.

New Zealand did not start well, but Ross Taylor struck gold with a half-century and it seemed like the Kiwis would nick this one; but Ross Taylor found himself off strike on the last ball and the match was tied. Ross Taylor faced five legitimate deliveries in the super-over against Marlon Samuels, scoring 17 runs for New Zealand.

Tim Southee was nominated to take on the mighty Gayle, but his very first ball was hit out of the park. Samuels completed the job off the fifth ball with another six to win the eliminator and the match for West Indies. They went on to win the World Cup.

Big Bash League – 2011/12 final – Perth Scorchers vs. Sydney Sixers

The ‘KFC Big Bash’ was originally played between state teams, but it turned into an IPL-style city-based franchise system from this edition onwards and tasted greater success.

The final reflected everything that was good in this tournament as there was some excellent bowling, agile fielding and sensible batting on display. The tournament featured some senior legends of the game like Brett Lee, as well as some exciting new talents like Moises Henriques and Steven Smith. Another such talent was on display in the final as Mitchell Marsh played a level-headed innings of 77 off 57 balls, helping the side recover from the early dismissals of Herschelle Gibbs and Luke Ronchi.

Marsh helped Perth Scorchers put up a total of 156 on the board, whereas Brett Lee starred with the ball for Sydney, picking up two wickets while giving away just 21 runs in his 4 overs. Moises Henriques opened the innings for Sydney and smashed 70 runs off 41 balls to take them close to a victory as Steven Smith closed out the match. Sydney Sixers won the match with an over to spare.

Dhaka Gladiators vs. Sylhet Royals, Race to the finals, 2013

The play-off stage of the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League (2nd season) saw the clash of two excellent teams as Dhaka Gladiators, eventual champions in 2013 and defending champions, battled against Sylhet Royals.

The pair of T. Dilshan and Chris Gayle (who also happen to form the opening pair at Royal Challengers Bangalore) were at the head of the batting order for Dhaka; and while Dilshan’s stay was short, Gayle brought the storm along with him, scoring a stunning century leading the side to a massive total of 197 and finishing with a personal score of 114 of just 51 balls including 12 sixes (a preview to the knock of 175 that he would score in the IPL later that year).

It was even more astonishing that Sylhet Royals gave a healthy chase to the target and almost got there on the strength of Mushfiqur Rahim, who scored 86 runs of just 44 balls. Royals required 24 runs off the last over and Mashrafe Mortaza was smashed for two sixes by Elton Chigumbura off the first two balls to get the team close as Rahim received a free-hit.

However, Rahim was dismissed at a critical moment. A last-ball six was required, but Chigumbura was caught out at deep mid-wicket as Sylhet Royals lost by 4 runs.