The IPL is among India’s most important sporting events and has a large number of followers across the globe. Many of the famous cricketers participate in the renowned cricket league. There are some of the top famous players in the world playing for various teams. You can be sure to witness some thrilling encounters during this tournament. Since it is difficult to pick a single IPL match, in this article, we’ve come up with some of the most famous matches that are regarded by many to be the top IPL matches to be ever played in the tournament.
Let’s take a look at all the most exciting matches in the IPL:
- Mumbai Indians (178-5, 20 overs) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (175-7, 20 overs) by five wickets. Year: 2011 and Match 70
Mumbai Indians (MI) have the tradition of pulling last-moment victories out of a defeat. It’s a practice that was evident in a thrilling match in Kolkata ten years ago.
The team had little chance of a win, and Kieron Pollard was out when MI needed 40 runs off 15 balls. However, MI got the most unlikely of victories thanks to some brilliant hitting by James Franklin.
With 21 required from the last over, the New Zealander struck Lakshmipathy Balaji for four consecutive fours before Ambati Rayudu hit the final ball – a leg-stump-full toss into the shocked Eden Gardens crowd to book MI’s spot in the quarter-finals.
- Chennai Super Kings (195-4, 19.4 overs) beat Kings XI Punjab (192-3, 20 overs) by six wickets. Year: 2010 and Match: 54
MS Dhoni has earned a bit of a reputation for being a skilled finisher in T20 cricket. It was a night in Dharamsala that explained the reason.
CSK had a comeback from 27-2 in just four overs to needing 16 runs in the final Irfan Pathan over to reach the semifinals.
MS only took the first four deliveries to wrap up the match. He racked up 16 runs to reach 54* off 29 balls to secure CSK’s spot in the knockout stage.
- Rising Pune Supergiant (173-6 20 overs) defeated King’s XI Punjab (172-7, 20 overs) by four wickets. Year: 2016 and Match: 53
RPS was a new franchise, with MS Dhoni as the captain. The stakes may not have been high, but Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) had to fight to avoid the wooden spoon rather than be able to qualify for the knockouts – however, the hitting was just as impressive.
RPS was destined to end the game at rock bottom. However, Dhoni had different plans and smoked Axar Patel for four sixes, and even slamming the last ball over midwicket to the crowd with a signature helicopter shot to finish an IPL chase that was among the more unlikely hits in IPL history.
- Chennai Super Kings (205-5, 19.5 overs) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (202-6, 20 overs) by five wickets. Year: 2018 and Match: 5
Rarely will an ad-hoc batter of number 7 blitz 11 sixes to make 88* off just 36 balls. Andre Russell’s record in the history of an IPL player who bats at seven or less should be the sole incident from the raging game in Chennai. However, it was overshadowed by an incredible chase that resulted in a CSK score of 17 of the decisive last over.
Did Russell’s efforts go unnoticed? Perhaps not. The Jamaican would later be named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. The fans of IPL might suggest that breaking a record while playing on a winning side is a better feeling than getting a hundred on a losing team.
- Mumbai Indians (136-7, 20 overs) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (96-10, 17.4 overs) by 40 runs. Year: 2019 and Match: 19
Not all fantastic T20 matches are high-scoring. The ability to defend a modest score is equally impressive in cricket. Last year’s tense affair was witnessed in the match between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
In his IPL debut at 22, young Antiguan Alzarri Joseph was picked as Lasith Malinga’s replacement and bowled against the tournament’s highest run-scorer David Warner.
The deceitful speed had led him to claim the most impressive bowling figures in IPL history, with his 6-12, which was better than Sohail Tanvir’s previous record of 6-14, in the first year of the tournament in 2008.
