Last Updated on 5 years by Charbel Coorey
Top 5 best innings played in IPL playoffs | Opinion: which knocks make the top 5 best innings list in IPL playoffs history?
The Indian Premier League is well renowned for its close, tightly-contested matches. Several games in the IPL playoffs have propelled individuals to come up with iconic performances that completely shifted the course of the encounter or the team’s run in the league itself.
There have been numerous laudable batting outings by batsmen in these crunch games. Hence, it was quite a task to figure out the five topmost innings played in the playoff stages of the Indian Premier League. Until 2010, the tournament used to have a semi-final format to for the top four teams from the league stages to qualify for the finals. Thereafter, the IPL playoffs system was introduced that is implemented even now.
Without further ado, let us delve further ahead into the article:
5: Murali Vijay – 95 runs off 52 balls in the IPL 2011 Final
There are certain innings where a player bats the opposition out of the match completely.
Chennai Super Kings were on the quest for a consecutive IPL title, and Murali Vijay ensured that it happened through a fantastic innings of 95 runs from 52 deliveries in the final match against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Vijay fearlessly took on the bowling attack, notching four boundaries and smacking the ball out of the park on six occasions.
By the time he departed at the start of the 19th over, the team had already put up 188 runs on the board and the morale of the adversary dropped significantly. The MS Dhoni-led side expectedly won the final by 58 runs and the batsman from Tamil Nadu was named as the ‘Man of the Match’.
4: AB de Villiers – 79* runs off 47 balls in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2016
RCB marginally missed on claiming the IPL trophy in 2016, but they surely put up some memorably entertaining knocks in their quest for the same. AB de Villiers’ unbeaten innings of 79 runs in 47 deliveries in the first qualifier of the tournament is definitely an outing worth recalling.
Gujarat Lions had posed a target of 159 for the Bengaluru-based side. However, RCB had succumbed to 29/5 at one point even before the conclusion of the field restriction overs. AB de Villiers, surely part of the all-time IPL XI, managed to calm the storm, stuck incredibly valuable partnerships with the likes of Stuart Binny and Iqbal Abdullah to lead his team to snatch a victory from the jaws of the Lions.
The immense experience that the Protea has gathered over the years was visible as he didn’t lose his composure and took on the opposition’s weak underbelly as the game progressed.
He held one end up, but didn’t allow the scoring rate to shoot up either and it was a fantastic demonstration of a team’s senior batsman taking up the mantle to do all the dirty work and eventually emerge triumphant from a woeful spot of bother.
Also read: RCB fan? Create your own customized RCB jersey for a low price. Find out more here.
3: Adam Gilchrist – 85 runs off 35 balls in the IPL 2009 Semi Final
Delhi Daredevils were on an absolute rampage in IPL 2009, before an Adam Gilchrist classic struck them hard in the Semi Final. The veteran southpaw opened the innings for Deccan Chargers whilst chasing 154 runs to book a place in the Final. Much like the quintessential Gilchrist knock, he took the game away from the opposition within the first ten overs of the innings itself.
The Aussie wicketkeeper scored a massive 85 runs in merely 35 balls, which included ten boundaries and five sixes. He brilliantly capitalized on the left-arm bowling trio of Dirk Nannes, Ashish Nehra and Pradeep Sangwan. The quick pace of the pitch allowed Gilchrist to pierce the ball through the gaps very swiftly and take his team to 102 runs at the end of 10 overs.
Deccan Chargers only required 52 runs from 10 overs after Adam Gilchrist fell to Amit Mishra’s bowling. That innings pretty much set the tone for the side to win the IPL Title that season, as the momentum had completely shifted to their favor. Indeed, the team acted as if they had become ten feet tall after Gilchrist’s onslaught.
2: Manish Pandey – 94 runs off 50 balls in the IPL 2014 Final
This match saw Wriddhiman Saha score a classy century in the first innings. However, the sheer fact that Manish Pandey anchored the Kolkata Knight Riders’ chase and stayed at the crease until the 17th over after being called on to bat in the first over itself means that his effort triumphs that of Saha in our list.
The openers couldn’t contribute much to KKR’s cause, but Pandey was well-supported by Yusuf Pathan as the duo went after a formidable target with supreme tactical nous and calculated risks. The Karanataka-batsman cleared the ropes six times in addition to adding seven boundaries.
At the time of his dismissal, KKR required a mere 21 runs from three overs. Pandey had bagged 54.97% of his team’s runs during the 16.2 overs that he was out in the middle. Such innings are a testament to the ideal number three batsman in the shortest format of the game and Manish Pandey can surely stake claim to be one of them.
1: Suresh Raina -87 runs off 25 balls in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2014
Perhaps the best IPL inning that resulted in a defeat for the team. Suresh Raina’s herculean but unsuccessful attempt to stimulate CSK to chase down the target of 227 runs set by the Kings XI Punjab in the second qualifier is one for the ages.
The dynamic left-handed batsman scored 87 runs from 25 deliveries at a strike rate of 348 as his team raced their way to 100 runs in the first six overs the innings itself.
Raina’s knock comprised of 12 boundaries and six sixes, which amount to 84 runs. That means 88.88% of his runs came via boundaries – a feat that is rarely ever seen even in a blitzkrieg like T20 cricket. The southpaw appeared to be unstoppable that night, as he seamlessly sent the likes of Mitchell Johnson, Parwinder Awana and others wretched on their way back after their respective deliveries.
Raina could have scored the quickest T20 century, as well as secured a victory for his team if not for that fatal mix-up with Brendon McCullum that ended up in him being run-out and thereby diminishing CSK’s hopes of making their way into the final match of the tournament.
Also read: CSK fan? Create your own customized CSK jersey for a low price. Find out more here.
Written by Tarkesh Jha. Follow Tarkesh on Twitter today.
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