Best Individual Performances for Every IPL Team

Individual performances win matches but Team work wins you tournaments. We all know which team has won the IPL in which year. But do we know which individual performances made them win the matches? As a part of the memory lane series, here are the best individual performances for every IPL team that is existing currently.

Delhi Daredevils / Delhi Capitals

This was extremely difficult to pick as there have been a lot of players to have played for the Delhi franchise, which keeps shuffling players every year. But I have gone for Rishabh Pant’s 97 off 43 balls vs Gujrat Lions in 2017.

Gujrat batted first and posted a steep target of 209 to win. However, the wicket keeper batsman came at number 3 and after a fiery start given by Sanju Samson, continued the momentum. He smashed 9 sixes in that innings including 6 fours but was unfortunately out before completing a well deserved 100. Thanks to his efforts, Delhi won the game with 15 balls to spare.

Kolkata Knight Riders

This is a no brainer. It would be a cardinal sin if this award didn’t go to Brendon McCullum for his 158 off 73 balls vs RCB in the first ever IPL game in 2008.

In a batsman-friendly ground, McCullum set the IPL stage on fire as he ran rampage on the RCB Bowlers. His innings consisted of 10 fours and 13 sixes. It was the highest IPL score, a record that stood for 5 years. KKR amassed 222 runs thanks to his innings and dismissed RCB for a paltry 82, winning the match by a whopping 150 runs.

Deccan Chargers / Sunrisers Hyderabad

The Hyderabad based team has had plenty of individual stars, especially of late. This includes the likes of David Warner, Jonny Bairstow and Rashid Khan. However, one performance that had destructive effect on the opponents was Ishant Sharma’s 5-12 vs Kochi Tuskers in 2011.

Chasing a target of 130, the Kerala outfit got off to a terrible start, losing Bredon McCullum in the first over itself to Dale Steyn. Ishant bowled a lethal 2nd over and claimed 3 wickets in that one over. His next over got him two more wickets, making it 5 wickets in 12 balls. By the end of his 2nd over and Kochi’s 4th over, the match was virtually over with the scoreboard reading 11/6. Kochi’s tail dragged the match until they succumbed at the score of 74. Deccan Chargers won the game by 55 runs.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Five years after McCullum’s 158, Chris Gayle showed his brute strength at the same ground. Chris Gayle scored an unbeaten 175 off 66 balls as he bulldozed all IPL records vs a hapless Pune Warriors bowling attack. He scored a record 17 sixes as RCB amassed 263 runs in their 20 overs. The game witnessed the highest ever IPL team score (till date) and highest individual IPL score (till date).

Gayle absolutely obliterated the Pune Warriors bowling attack and if that wasn’t enough, he claimed 2 wickets off his bowling in just one over. The Warriors could score just 133 runs, 130 short of RCB’s score and 42 short of Chris Gayle’s.

Mumbai Indians

There have been plenty of match winning performances for MI, notably Kieron Pollard vs Punjab and Alzarri Joseph’s 6 wickets vs Sunrisers in 2019. But my pick would be Sanath Jayasuriya’s 114 off 48 balls vs CSK back in 2008.

MI were chasing a below par score of 157 runs at the Wankhede when Jayasuriya exploded into sublime form. He ambushed the CSK bowling with clean hits all around the park as MI chased down the score of 157 within the 14th over and won with 37 balls to spare. Jayasuriya smashed 11 sixers and finished with a strike rate of 237.5. Not bad for a person nearing his 40s.

Kings XI Punjab

Yet another destructive batting innings to feature in this list is David Miller’s 101 off 38 balls as he single-handedly won Punjab the game vs RCB in 2013.

RCB had set a competitive target of 191 for Punjab. The northern outfit was in all sorts of trouble at 51-3, when Miller came in to bat. Punjab needed 127 runs from 61 balls, more than 12 runs at one stage. But then Killer Miller took center stage as he ran rampant. Punjab scored those 127 runs in just 49 balls and Miller scored a six from 95 to bring up his century and the winning runs, Dhoni and Sehwag style combined!

Rajasthan Royals

Any guesses? It’s a bowling performance. Only the second bowling performance in this list. Sohail Tanvir rocked CSK’s strong batting foundation as he bowling an astonishing spell of 6-14 in 2008. He took 3 wickets in his first two overs as CSK was stuttering at 12-3. Eventually the Kings were bowled out for 109, Tanvir claiming 3 more enroute.

Royals chased the target of 110 with predictable ease as they won with more than 5 overs to spare. Tanvir’s unconventional action made it extremely difficult for batsmen to pick his bowling. He went on to win the Purple Cap for the most wickets in that season, only to never play in the IPL again. Sad ending to an amazing story.

Chennai Super Kings

There have been amazing match winning performances for CSK like Albie Morkel vs RCB in 2012 or MS Dhoni vs RCB in 2018. However, my personal favourite was Suresh Raina’s surreal 87 off 25 balls vs KXIP in 2014’s Qualifier-2, the only performance in a losing cause in this list.

Following a Sehwag masterclass, CSK were left to chase a mammoth 227. Raina came in to bat early and absolutely obliterated Punjab’s bowling. The Kings raced to 100 off just 6 overs, a record for the most runs in a Powerplay till date. Raina had scored 87 runs of the 100. However, the very next ball, he was run out, prematurely ending a supreme innings.

CSK’s batting came a cropper after that as the team lost the game by 24 runs, failing to make the finals for only the second time in history.

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About the Author

The post is written by Vignesh . Vignesh is graduate from IIM Visakhapatnam who loves to watch Football and Cricket. He is a huge fan of CSK, Chelsea FC and Chennaiyin FC. He follows Tennis and Kabaddi as well and is an ardent supporter of Roger Federer