These power-play totals illustrate the explosive nature of the IPL!
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the ultimate franchise competition in the world, attracting the dream of every cricket player to play in it at least once in their career. Top talent is drawn to it by its magnetic pull, making the standards of cricket similar to those of international competition. The IPL has seen several historic firsts and accomplishments over its existence. Among these achievements are the incredible high scores that teams have amassed, which are frequently attained during vital powerplay overs. Batters are allowed to chase runs at will in the first six overs, which often culminate in spectacular scores that lay the groundwork for large totals. The top five biggest powerplay overscores in IPL history are examined in this article.
Sunil Narine has provided KKR with some scorching beginnings. His combination with the bat is devastating. The highest IPL total for KKR was in a 2024 match at Vizag against the Delhi Capitals. They scored an incredible 272/7 in 20 overs, including a 39-ball 85 from Narine. In the powerplay, KKR scored 88/1, which is presently the fifth-highest powerplay total in the competition's history. For his 54 off 27, Angkrish Raghuvanshi too had a strong game. DC fell by 106 runs after being all out for 166 runs.
The powerplay score achieved by the Chennai Super Kings was the fourth highest in IPL history. They executed it at Wankhede Stadium in 2015 against the Mumbai Indians. When MI batted first, they scored 183/7 overall. CSK got off to a great start as they chased the score. In only 7.2 overs, Dwayne Smith (62 off 30) and Brendon McCullum (46 off 20) contributed 109. In order to win the match, CSK reached 189/4 in 16.4 overs after scoring 90 runs in the first six overs.
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(CSK Player Rituraj Gaikwad)
In 2014, Suresh Raina set a record for the greatest powerplay score by scoring 87 runs in just 25 balls against the Punjab Kings. Thanks to a century from Virender Sehwag (122 off 58), PBKS amassed a mammoth 226/6 in the first innings of their IPL 2014 Qualifier 2 match. In response, CSK raced to a century and two wickets in the first six overs but faltered in the middle. However, CSK lost by 24 runs despite reaching 202/7.
At M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2017, the Kolkata Knight Riders defeated the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the second-highest powerplay score. Up until 2024, this was the record. In the opening inning, RCB scored 158/6, which was below average. Chris Lynn (50 off 22) and Sunil Narine (54 off 17) combined for 105 runs in the powerplay as they chased the total. In 15.1 overs, KKR scored 159/4 to win the match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad went one further than KKR by shattering their record for the greatest powerplay score. In the first six overs of a 2024 encounter at Arun Jaitley Stadium, they amassed 125 runs against the Delhi Capitals. Abhishek Sharma struck 46 off of 12 balls, while Travis Head hammered fifty off 16 balls. After posting a huge 266/7 total, SRH bowled DC out for 199 runs to win the match by 67 runs.
These games are proof of the changing nature of the game of cricket. T20 and IPL are so explosive that styles of batting have also been translated into ODI cricket!
