Cricket, in its original form, seeks to establish a balance between bat and ball for the highest level of competition to enthral the audiences.
However, in the modern era, with the onset of T20 cricket, the balance has gone for a toss. Here are the three highest successful run chases in IPL history, which highlight the skewed balance:
209 DD vs GL Delhi, 2017
The third-highest chase in the IPL came in 2017 in a match between Delhi and Gujarat Lions. Gujarat put on 208 runs on the board and would have been confident of a victory. But, Rishabh Pant had different thoughts.
Sanju Samson first struck a 31-ball 61 to give Delhi a great start. Pant then went all out with 97 off just 43 deliveries at a strike rate of 225 to stun the opposition. The 209-run target was overhauled in just 17.3 overs as Delhi romped home to a thrilling win.
215 RR vs Deccan Hyderabad, 2008
The now-defunct Deccan Chargers were in full flow in the Indian Premier League 2008. They had Adam Gilchrist as opener, and with Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi and Rohit Sharma in the middle order, the team was strong enough to give anyone a run for their money on their day.
On this particular day in April 2008, Australian big-hitter Andrew Symonds was in his element. He struck an unbeaten 117 off 53 deliveries with 11 fours and 7 sixes to take Deccan Chargers to 214, which was a huge total in 2008.
Rajasthan Royals under the leadership of Shane Warne though were not one to back off. Rajasthan opener Graeme Smith bludgeoned 71 off just 45 deliveries and had a 98-run partnership for the second wicket with Yusuf Pathan, who scored 61 of 28 balls.
With finishing blows from Mohammad Kaif (34 off 16 balls) and skipper Shane Warne (22 off 9 balls), Rajasthan Royals chased down the 215-run target on the second-last delivery.
223 RR vs KXIP Sharjah, 2020
In a recent IPL fixture between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, Punjab scored 223 runs on the back of a century from Mayank Agarwal. Rajasthan were down in the dumps at one point with Rahul Tewatia managing just 8 runs off his first 19 deliveries.
The move to promote Tewatia in the batting order did not seem to work, but Tewatia smoked 53 off 31 deliveries, hitting five sixes off Sheldon Cottrell's last over as Rajasthan chased down the target in the last over to win the game by four wickets.
