ITS IRON MAN VS CAPTAIN AMERICA…..THE TOP 5 HIGHEST SUCCESSFUL RUN CHASES IN THE IPL HISTORY

We all love a good game between the bat and ball. For me personally, I just love when the batting team absolutely destroys the bowling team and sets an astonishing score on the board. The bowling team, whose hopes have been destroyed, somehow finds the strength within and goes on an absolute rampage and to successfully chase the target, in other words, I absolutely love successful run chases. Successful run chases in a way tell you that, no matter what the score is there is always a possibility that the other team can chase the runs. It’s like “Captain America vs Iron man”, both of them won’t give up, but in the end, one of them will win. Today, we are going to look into some of the highest successful run chases in IPL history.

THE TOP 5 HIGHEST SUCCESSFUL RUN CHASES IN THE IPL HISTORY

RAJASTHAN ROYALS 226/6 VS KINGS XI PUNJAB:

In the recently concluded IPL, we saw Rajasthan chase down an incredible target set by the Punjab batsmen. Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul batted brilliantly to put this score on the board. The fans, even though with all the firepower the team had, were pretty sure they wouldn’t be able to chase it down. However, a batting masterclass from Steve Smith and Sanju Samson proved otherwise. Steve Smith’s 50 in just 27 balls, followed by Sanju Samson’s 85 in just 42 balls, set the foundation for the chase. After both of their dismissals, the hopes of the fans that had built up so far were absolutely crushed. However, Rahul Tewatia continued the good form and smashed 7 sixes, 5 of them coming in Sheldon Cotrell’s over. Jofra Archer also matched Tewatia’s energy and hit two sixes off Shami, to ultimately seal the deal for Rajasthan.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS 217/7 VS DECCAN CHARGERS:

Another Rajasthan Royals special. This one was in the inaugural edition of the IPL, back in 2008. The destructive Andrew Symmonds scored 117 in just 53 balls to set the target. (Chris Gayle type innings) He smashed 7 sixes and 11 fours and had a strike rate of 220.75. He was also supported by a young Rohit Sharma, who scored a respectable 36. During that season, the Rajasthan team did not have the firepower they have now. However, defying all odds, Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan struck a partnership and put the team on the right path. Smith scored 71 in 45 balls and Yusuf Pathan absolutely destroyed the Deccan Chargers bowlers, he smashed 61 in just 28 balls, hitting 6 sixes and 4 fours. The destruction was then continued by Mohammed Kaif and Shane Warne. Kaif’s 34 in just 16 balls and Warne’s 22 in 9 balls, ensured that victory went to Rajasthan. Teams will now be careful when playing against Rajasthan, as no score is a high score for Rajasthan.

DELHI CAPITALS 214/3 VS GUJARAT LIONS:

This match was the introduction of Rishabh Pant. The Gujarat Lions put an astonishing 208 on the scoreboard. The wonderful Suresh Raina led the Lions’ attack. He scored a  77 in just 43 balls. Raina was supported by another master, Dinesh Karthik. He scored 65 in just 34 balls. The Delhi team had a lot of youngsters and no big-name player, however, that did not put them off, instead, Sanju Samson went ham from the very first ball. Sanju who had starred for Rajasthan against Gujarat showed us why he was a very important player for any team. He smashed not scored, 61 in just 31 balls. His innings consisted of 7 sixes and no fours, However, this match very much belonged to Rishabh Pant. Pant scored a brilliant 97 in just 43 balls to cement Delhi’s pace in the chase. He hit 9 sixes and 6 fours and led Delhi to the victory. Batting prowess like this is one of the main reasons why he is such a vital player for the National team.

KINGS XI PUNJAB 211/4 VS SUNRISERS HYDERABAD:

Naman Ojha’s 79 supported by Shikhar Dhawan’s 45 and David Warner’s 44 allowed Hyderabad to put a respectable 205 on the scoreboard. Combined the three of them hit 12 sixes and 12 fours. At that point it was guaranteed that the victory would go to the Sunrisers, however, Punjab had other plans. Led by the brilliant Wriddhiman Saha, they managed to chase down the target with 8 balls remaining. Saha’s 54 in just 26 balls followed by Maxwell’s 43 and George Bailey’s 35 was enough to steer Punjab to the victory.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS 208/5 VS ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE:

RCB as we all know has one of the greatest batting lineups ever. This time it was Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli who led the attack. Gayle scored 68 in 35 balls and Kohli scored 57 in 46 balls. When Chennai’s turn came to bat, Faf Du Plessis batted brilliantly and scored an amazing 71, however, the decision to make Kohli bowl two overs probably cemented CSK’s position in the chase. Kohli conceded 36 runs in the two overs he bowled. Interestingly he was also given the task to bowl the crucial 19th over, and as you can imagine it didn’t go too well for him.

These are some of the highest successful run chases in the IPL history. Let’s hope that we can see more of this in the upcoming IPL.