Batsmen keep scoring comfortably from zero to 89, but as soon as they reach the nineties, the butterflies in the stomach are evident.
Only when you reach 100 will it go in the record books as a century – 99 is not enough. Hence, the desperation of batsmen to reach triple figures is understandable. Here’s a look at five occasions when batsmen fell just one run short of the milestone in the IPL.
Virat Kohli has eight centuries in the IPL, but a couple have slipped away. One such performance came in the 57th match of the Indian Premier League 2013 against Delhi.
Batting first, Cheteshwar Pujara and Chris Gayle opened the batting for RCB, but both were back in the hut within the powerplay. Virat Kohli then joined hands, first with Aussie all-rounder MoisesHenriques and then with AB de Villiers, to amp up the scoring rate.
Kohli was hitting over 170 at his strike rate in the 90s, with 10 fours and 4 sixes. In a bid to complete his century quickly, he tried to push the running between the wickets and was run out.
Getting out on 99 is disappointing, but there is nothing more disappointing in cricket than being run out on 99!
Delhi were chasing a 186-run target in the 10th match of the Indian Premier League 2019 against Kolkata Knight Riders. Prithvi Shaw came out to open the batting for the team alongside Shikhar Dhawan.
Shaw playing a straight drive, sending the ball to the boundary
Shaw struck 99 off 55 deliveries with 12 fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 180 but was caught by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik off Lockie Ferguson on the third ball of the penultimate over.
In 2020, it was IshanKishan who fell tantalisingly short of an IPL century. Chasing 202, Mumbai Indians were down in the dumps at 78/4 with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Quinton de Kock and Hardik Pandya back in the hut.
Kishan tried his best with a 58-ball 99 but was caught in the deep in an attempt to bring up his century and the team’s victory. What made it even more dramatic was that Kishan was dismissed on the second last delivery of the match, with Mumbai inches away from a win.
Against former IPL champions Rajasthan Royals, Chris Gayle was on a mission to his side a formidable cushion. The West Indies with his blistering performance reached 99 but lost the century to a Jofra Archer throw. Unfortunately, Gayle’s effort went in vain as Rajasthan Royals chased the target in merely 18 overs.
The ‘Universal Boss’ with his mean look staring the bowlers
At the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 99 runs, whereas Devon Convoy added 85 runs to help Chennai Super Kings with a target of 202. Gaikwad smashed all the SRH bowlers, but finally, Natrajan dismissed him at 99. Fortunately, Chennai Super Kings won the match despite SRH openers Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma scoring 46 runs in four overs.
