The Indian Premier League has often been highly reputed for the tremendous amount of high quality cricket on display throughout every season of the tournament. Whether it is the batting, the bowling or the fielding, the IPL has always managed to produce spectacular matches time and again. As we have seen some splendid batting performances while setting targets, we have also witnessed some unbelievable cricket when those targets have been chased down.
Let’s have a look at the top 5 best run chases in the IPL of all-time:
5. Chennai Super Kings(208/5) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: IPL 2012
This is arguably considered as one of the best IPL games ever played. Bowling first CSK restricted RCB to 205. The Chennai batsmen started well in their pursuit of the chase with Murali Vijay and Suresh Raina. After RCB picked up wickets in the middle overs it looked a hard chase for CSK. The then lower middle-order consisting of Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel played fantastic cameos followed by a boundary of the final delivery by Ravindra Jadeja which ultimately gave the Super Kings a thrilling victory.
4.Kings XI Punjab(211/4) vs Sunrisers Hyderabad:IPL 2014
Kings XI Punjab climbed the ladder in the year 2014 as it was their year. Sunrisers batsman Naman Ojha put up a good show with the bat as the Kings XI struggled to keep him at bay. Sunrisers Hyderabad set a target of 206 for Kings XI Punjab however, they went off to chase that target beautifully and finishing the match with a six. Wriddhiman Saha was the star of the show for Punjab scoring a half-century followed by cameos from Manan Vohra, Glenn Maxwell and the then captain George Bailey.
3. Delhi Daredevils (214/3) vs Gujarat Lions: IPL 2017
Delhi Daredevils back in 2017 had a very young team and everyone was aware of it’s top 5 who had nearly zero international experience. Although Gujrat Lions set a massive target of 208 against Delhi Daredevils. Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant had a partnership of 143 runs, Samson got out scoring only 61 runs, but somehow the Daredevils wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant wrecked himself into the game scoring a 97 runs, which recorded nine sixes and six boundaries. Delhi Daredevils scored 214 and won the match by 7 wickets with a massive 15 balls to spare.
2.Rajasthan Royals (217/7) vsDeccan Chargers: IPL 2008
Taking a glance at the first season of the IPL, building a score beyond 160 and plus was a challenge to hit. However, In the first innings, Deccan Chargers put up a score of 215. The main partnership for Rajasthan Royals was built between Graeme Smith-Yusuf Pathan which laster for 98 runs but later RR soon lost quick wickets. Mohammed Kaif and captain Shane Warne played wonderful cameos at the end to finish the game.They managed to chase the target of 216 at the loss of 7 wickets.
1. Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals (226/6): IPL 2020
This match produced the best individual performances in the Indian Premier League ever seen. The quality of cricket on display was of the highest order in every facet. KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal played superbly to take Kings XI to a total of 223 after 20 overs. RR captain Steven Smith scored a half-century followed by a brilliant knock of 85 runs by Sanju Samson. Rahul Tewatia who was struggling to score runs having scored just 8 runs off his first 19 balls, smashed 5 sixes in one over to get the Royals extremely close to their target. A late cameo by Jofra Archer saw Rajasthan claim victory with 3 balls to spare to achieve the highest ever run chase in a IPL match.
