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The Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by nine wickets in the 56th match of IPL 2023 on Thursday, May 11. They chased down a target of 148 in 13.1 overs - thanks to a masterclass from the young left-hander Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a magnificent 98* off just 47 balls. Captain Sanju Samson also contributed with a well-made 48* off 29 balls.
Jaiswal also brought up the fastest half-century in the IPL history, taking only 13 balls to do so. He also reached the milestone in the first three overs, taking the team total to 54/1. They were on the verge of breaking into the list for the highest powerplay scores in the competition. However, the next three overs from Varun Chakravarthy and Nitish Rana resulted in only 24 runs.
On that note, let's take a look back at the five best powerplay scores in IPL history.
#5. PBKS v SRH, 2014 - 86 runs
The Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and elected to field first at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in Hyderabad. They were set a target of 206, thanks to a masterclass from Naman Ojha (79* off 36 balls) and David Warner (44* off 23 balls).
Despite losing Virender Sehwag in the first over, they continued to bat aggressively. Wriddhiman Saha (52* off 23 balls) and Manan Vohra (29* off 11 balls) played some exceptional strokes during their stay at the crease. They targeted the overs bowled by Moises Henriques, who conceded 36 off two overs. PBKS won the game by six wickets with eight balls in hand.
#4. KTK v RR, 2011 - 87 runs
The now-defunct IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers Kerala also make it to this list. They dismissed the Rajasthan Royals for a mere total of 97 in a must-win encounter for both teams. Ashok Menaria was the only player to have crossed 30 in the innings.
KTK were in a hurry while chasing the target, in order to reduce their net run rate deficit. Brendon McCullum came out all guns blazing and scored 29 runs off just 12 balls, although he was dismissed in the fourth over. Brad Hodge was in no mood to waste time either, as he got 25 runs off 12 balls. Parthiv Patel also chipped in with a handy 12-ball 19* in the first six overs. They won the match with 12.4 overs to spare.
#3. CSK v MI, 2015 - 90 runs
The Mumbai Indians (MI) won the toss and elected to bat first in the much-awaited IPL rivalry. Despite a top-order collapse, they managed to score 183/7 in the first innings. Kieron Pollard (64) and Rohit Sharma (50) were the major contributors with the bat for the team.
In reply, CSK's destructive duo of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum did the damage. Smith was the major contributor, scoring 50 off just 22 balls while McCullum scored 36 off 15 balls. They destroyed Malinga, Suchith and Harbhajan in the final three overs of the powerplay. It resulted in a six wicket win with 20 balls in hand.
#2. CSK v PBKS, 2014 - 100 runs
This match is often remembered fondly by CSK fans, even though they ended up on the losing side. PBKS won the toss and elected to bat first in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2014 at the Wankhede. A century from Virender Sehwag (122* off 58 balls) meant that they set a target of 227 runs for last year's finalists.
Suresh Raina played one of the greatest IPL knocks in a losing cause. After du Plessis was dismissed for a duck off the second ball of the innings, he scored 87 runs off just 25 balls. However, he was run out immediately after the end of the powerplay.
#1. KKR v RCB, 2017 - 105 runs
KKR became the second IPL team to cross the 100-run mark in the powerplay. They won the toss and elected to field first against RCB at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, restricting the hosts to 158/4 in the first innings. Travis Head made the only notable contribution in the first innings, scoring 75* off 47 balls.
In response, the Knight Riders came out all guns blazing. The opening duo of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine decimated the RCB bowling lineup from the word go. Narine brought up the then-fastest half-century in just 15 balls, while Lynn took 19 balls to reach the milestone. They won the match by 6 wickets and 29 balls to spare.
