The Indian Premier League 2018 was concluded with MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lifting their third IPL title by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad in the finals of the tournament at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 27, 2018.
The IPL 11 was full of brilliant innings in the tournament, with many helping their teams winning the matches. However, some very good innings in the tournament also came in matches that the teams lost despite the brilliance of the batsmen.
COC chooses the 5 best innings in the losing causes of IPL matches, innings which could have become great, but instead ended up being very good, as the team lost the match despite its presence. Many times, such innings are forgotten due to the simple fact that teams lost the match, something that is unfortunate.
Here are the 5 best innings in losing causes in IPL 11
88* – ANDRE RUSSELL, KKR v CSK, CHENNAI
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played one another in the only match to be played in Chennai in this IPL 2018. The 5th match of the tournament saw CSK captain MS Dhoni winning the toss and deciding to field first.
His decision was proved correct as CSK bowlers reduced KKR to 89/5 in 10 overs. With KKR set to end up with anything close to 140, a big boost was needed to take the team to a big total. And that boost was provided by Andre Russell, who smoked 88* in 36 balls with 11 sixes and 1 four and converted a par total into a very good total of 202/6 in 20 overs.
Shane Watson scored 42, Rayudu scored 39, and Dhoni made 25 and at one point it looked like KKR will win the match. But Sam Billings had other ideas, as he smashed 56 off 23 balls with 5 sixes and 2 fours. Bravo (11*) and Jadeja (11*) took CSK to a brilliant win in front of their home crowd and KKR lost the match by 5 wickets.
Billings’ match-winning innings, also piped Russell’s 88* for the Man of the match award.
84 – KANE WILLIAMSON, SRH v CSK, HYDERABAD
The 20th match CSK and SRH play each other in Hyderabad. Hyderabad, who were on a roll, chose to field first after winning the toss. Suresh Raina’s 54*, Ambati Rayudu’s 79 off 37 balls with 9 fours and 4 sixes and Dhoni’s 25* took CSK to 182/3 in 20 overs.
The total was above par on the Hyderabad pitch and SRH knew that the task was difficult. Deepak Chahar removed Bhui, Pandey, and Hooda for cheap to put pressure on CSK batting. But Kane Williamson scored a masterful 84 off 51 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes. He got support from Yusuf Pathan, who made 45 in 27 balls with 4 sixes and 1 four.
However, Bravo got the wicket of Williamson, as SRH was cruising towards target and even a last-ditch effort from Rashid Khan (17 in 4 balls, 2 sixes and 1 four) wasn’t enough for SRH to win the match and they fell 4 runs short of winning the match, ending up on 178/6.
94 – KL RAHUL, MI v KXIP, MUMBAI
Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab played at the Wankhede Stadium in the 50th match of the tournament. Both the teams were fighting to make it into the final four and it was a must-win game for both.
KXIP captain Ashwin won the toss and chose to field first. MI put on a formidable total with 186/8 in 20 overs. Kieron Pollard scored 50 in 23 balls, Suryakumar scored 27 and Krunal contributed 32 runs to the MI total. Andrew Tye was the best bowler for KXIP with 4/16.
KXIP’s chase was shouldered by just two innings; 46 from Aaron Finch and a brilliant 94 from KL Rahul in just 60 balls with 10 fours and 3 sixes. Rahul masterfully rotated the strike and took on all the bowlers from MI to take KXIP within touching range of the target. But he got out to Bumrah, as he looked set to get his century and KXIP to win and in the end, KXIP ended up making just 183/5 in 20 overs.
KL Rahul was amazing in how he played his game, as he attacked and defended with precision and definitely rued not taking his team to the win.
79* – MS DHONI, KXIP v CSK, MOHALI
CSK visited Mohali to play KXIP in the 12th match of the tournament. KXIP batted first, after losing the toss to CSK. Chris Gayle scored 63 off 33 balls and valuable contributions from KL Rahul (37), Mayank Agarwal (30) and Karun Nair (29) took KXIP to 197/7 in 20 overs.
CSK knew the chase was going to be tough on a quick Mohali strip and it was proven when Watson and Vijay went for cheap and then Billings too made his way to the pavilion for 9. But Rayudu made 49 in 35 balls before getting run out.
In the end, MS Dhoni hit 79* in 44 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes to lessen the gap of defeat and CSK fell short of the target by just 4 runs, despite Dhoni’s effort.
128* – RISHABH PANT, DD v SRH, DELHI
42nd match of the IPL 2018 saw Delhi Daredevils host Sunrisers Hyderabad in a crunch match. Choosing to bat first, SRH bowlers reduced DD to 98/4 in 14 overs and it looked like DD will wilt under their pressure and finish with a sub-par final score.
But Rishabh Pant had other plans and went after the DD bowling to score a sublime 128* in 63 balls with 15 fours and 7 sixes. His brilliant and scintillating century took DD to 187/5. He was so dangerous that the usually very good Bhuvneshwar Kumar was also taken for 51 runs in his 4 overs and Siddarth Kaul went for 48 runs. Pant was brutal and skillful at the same time, manufacturing shots to suit his strength and it was mesmerizing to see a young 20-year-old bat like this against some of the best bowlers in the business.
However, DD got a brutal repercussion in form of an amazingly constructed chase by Shikhar Dhawan (92* in 50 balls) and Kane Williamson (83* in 53 balls), who added an unbeaten 176* for the second wicket to win the match by an emphatic 9 wickets with 7 balls in hand.
Pant’s amazing assault went in vain, as SRH’s experienced batsmen chased down the total with brutal efficiency.
