Gayle’s 175 to Watson’s 117: Relive Top 5 swashbuckling knocks of IPL (VIDEOS)

New Delhi: The Indian Premier League (IPL) is hosting its 16th edition and over the years, it has seen some of the greatest moments in the history of the game. T20 is a format where the batters love to dominate and IPL being the biggest cricket league has witnessed some of the most outstanding and game-changing knocks. From quick hundreds to last ball chases, the tournament has seen it all and has given unforgettable memories to the fans.

Here are 5 of the memorable knocks from all 15 editions of IPL:

1) Suresh Raina’s epic knock in losing cause (87 off 25)

In the 2014 edition, CSK was playing the second qualifier against KXIP when Virender Sehwag scored a ton and gave them a target of 227. While openers Dwayne Smith and Faf du Plessis were dismissed for single-digit scores, Suresh Raina went on to score 87 off 25, hitting 12 fours and 6 sixes. He used the powerplay to attack and was dismissed on the first delivery of the seventh over when CSK stood tall at 100/3.

Soon, CSK lost momentum after McCullum got run out and Parvinder Awana picked two in an over. CSK lost the game by 24 runs but Raina’s efforts are recorded in the golden words in the books of cricket.

2) Shane Watson’s ton in finals (117* off 57)

In IPL 2018 finals, Sunrisers Hyderabad scored 178 and it was a single-handed chase for veteran cricketer Shane Watson. The Australian batter opened for CSK and went on to score 117* off just 57 deliveries. His inning included eight sixes.

The fun fact about the inning was that Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled a maiden over to Watson and he took 11 balls to score his first run.

3) Andre Russell chases the unchasable (48* off 13)

Dre Russ has led many unexpected chases for KKR, but his inning against RCB in the 2019 edition was sheer brilliance. After Virat Kohli’s 84(49) and ABD’s 63 off 32, RCB gave KKR a target of 206. When Andre Russell walked in, his side stood at 139/4 and needed 67 off 26 balls.

While it was still chasable by Russell’s standards, he went past himself and scored a whopping 48* off just 13 balls to chase it down with five balls to spare. He hit three consecutive sixes against Mohammed Siraj and Marcus Stoinis combined and went 6,6,6,4,6 against Tim Southee.

4) Brendon McCullum kickstarts IPL (158* off 73)

The first-ever IPL game was a shocker in itself as it saw unprecedented attack by Brendon McCullum. Batting first, McCullum opened for KKR against RCB and scored an astonishing 158* off 73. No one expected this to happen but he had some other plans in his mind. Baz nailed the deliveries out of the park as he hit 10 fours and 13 sixes.

The fun part was that KKR managed 222 after Baz’s crazy inning and RCB was bowled out for just 82 and Praveen Kumar with 18* was the only RCB batter to score in double digits. KKR won the game by 140 runs and this is how the IPL began. The knock will always be remembered as McCullum did this back in 2008 when T20 cricket just saw its first World Cup and was witnessing its inaugural IPL game.

5) The Gayle Storm (175* off 66)

The 2011 edition of IPL witnessed the “Gayle Storm”!  RCB was playing against Pune Warriors when Chris Gayle, who holds plenty of T20 records to his name, scored the highest-ever individual score in the shortest format. Opening the batting, Gayle scored 175* off 66 with never-seen-before 17 sixes in the inning. He scored the fastest hundered in just 30 balls.

The cricket world was shocked and so was Pune Warriors as chasing 264, they could manage only 133/9 in the reply. While Australian batter Aaron Finch has scored 172 against Zimbabwe, Gayle’s record still stands untouched.

Chris Gayle has created a brand of T20 cricket with a generations looking up to him and this was the inning that marked him as the undisputed ‘Universe Boss’.