The 18th of April 2022 marked 15 years since the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League, and in light of the rich history of the most popular T20 tournament in the world, we take a look at the 15 best moments in IPL history.
Here are numbers 15 to 11:
Happy Birthday @anilkumble1074
– Only bowler to take a fifer for RCB in IPL (5/5)
– Best bowling figures by an Indian in IPL(5/5)#HBDAnilKumble pic.twitter.com/sdjrFDnntI
— Raghuraj (@CricRaghu) October 17, 2020
Starting at number 15 is one of the most memorable spells in IPL history when Anil Kumble single-handedly demolished the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up in 2009. Defending 133, Kumble picked up five wickets for just five runs as RR were bowled out for just 58 runs on an excellent batting track in Cape Town.
However, despite all his troubles, Kumble still wasn’t named the man of the match for his performance, with Rahul Dravid taking the award home for his 66 off 48 deliveries.
The moment Adam Gilchrist said goodbye to the #IPL, with a wicket. #KXIPvsMI scorecard: http://t.co/u9DEoeCyGo pic.twitter.com/2vke3k05YE
— CricketNDTV (@CricketNDTV) May 18, 2013
Adam Gilchrist will forever be remembered as one of the greatest IPL openers and captains of all time as the Australian legend led the Deccan Chargers to victory in the 2009 season. However, his most memorable moment in the competition came in his very last IPL match against the Mumbai Indians, which saw Gilchrist pick up the final MI wicket of Harbhajan Singh with his first and only delivery bowled in the IPL.
With that wicket, Gilchrist retired with the best bowling record in IPL history, having an economy and average of zero and a bowling strike rate of just one.
Kieron Pollard wins the Man of the Match award for his stupendous knock of 87* off just 34 deliveries.
Take a bow, Polly 👏👏#VIVOIPL #MIvCSK pic.twitter.com/puSx7iXS3p
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2021
Kieron Pollard played one of the most iconic IPL innings of all time for the Mumbai Indians against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in 2021. Chasing 219, Pollard walked in with MI reeling at 81 for 3 in ten overs, and the Trinidadian took it upon himself to win the game for Mumbai with a knock that will go down in IPL folklore as one of the best displays of power hitting the tournament has ever seen. Pollard hit six fours and eight towering sixes in his knock of 87*, clinching the victory for the reigning champions with a six off the final delivery of the match from Lungi Ngidi.
#IPL # #KKRvRCB #KolkataKnightRiders beat #RoyalChallengersBangalore by 82 runs#KKR 131 (19.3 Ovs)#RCB 49-all out (9.4 Ovs) pic.twitter.com/0hE6Yu67nE
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) April 23, 2017
In the 2017 curtain-raiser, the mighty RCB batting line-up that included Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers was dismissed for the lowest total in IPL history against Gautam Gambhir and the Kolkata Knight Riders. Chasing a modest total of 131 at the Eden Gardens, RCB were bowled out for just 49 as Nathan Coulter Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme picked up three wickets each and made full use of the swinging conditions to clean up the Bangalore batting line-up in 9.4 overs.
Throwback to 2020, when Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings produced the IPL’s only contest to go to a double super over
Can we expect another thriller between the two sides tonight?#IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/NkohLO0wsK
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 13, 2022
There have been 14 instances of a super over deciding a game in IPL history, but there has only been one occasion of a double super over – when the Mumbai Indians played the Kings XI Punjab in 2020. On a wild night in Dubai, both Mumbai and Punjab finished with 176 in their allotted 20 overs before Jasprit Bumrah bowled a super over for the ages, conceding just five runs to KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda. However, Mohammad Shami hit back in equal measure, giving away just five runs to Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock, forcing another super over.
In the second round, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya gave Trent Boult 11 runs to defend, but Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle chased down the target in four deliveries to give Punjab a famous victory.
Stay tuned to Man’s Life for Part 2
[Featured Image Credit: CricketNDTV]
Shivaan Shah