IPL History: 3 Most Exciting Matches Of IPL 2008

IPL 2021 will commence on April 9, 2021, at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and Mumbai Indians will lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Mumbai Indians is led by Rohit Sharma while Virat Kohli is the skipper of Royal Challengers Bangalore. IPL 2021 will be played at 6 venues across the country and will witness a total of 60 matches.

Indian Premier League has a long history. Since its debut season in 2008, fans have enjoyed 13 editions of the Indian Premier League. Since the very first edition, fans were thrilled to watch the nail-biting matches in IPL. Rajasthan Royals won the trophy in IPL 2008 after they defeated Chennai Super Kings in the final. Here we relive the memories of the first edition of Indian Premier League and talk about the 3 most exciting matches of IPL 2008.

IPL History: 3 Most Exciting Matches Of IPL 2008

Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kolkata Night Riders (M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru)

No Indian cricket fan can forget the very first match of 1st IPL edition in 2008. This is because of the spectacular 158 run-knock by Brendon McCullum in the match. The former New Zealand skipper played as an opener for Kolkata Knight Riders and smashed 158 runs off just 73 balls. His fabulous innings thrilled every Indian fan. KKR scored 222-3 while batting first. In response, Royal Challengers Bangalore were bowled out for 82 runs and lost the game by 140 runs. Brendon McCullum was awarded player of the match for his thrilling knock.

Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab (Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai)

Another nail-biting match in IPL 2021 was Mumbai Indians’ home game against Kings XI Punjab. Kings XI Punjab batted first in the match putting 189-4 on the scoreboard. Shaun Marsh played a magnificent inning of 81 runs while Luke Pomersbach smashed a stupendous knock of 79 runs.

While chasing, Sachin Tendulkar scored 65 runs but he was run out by Irfan Pathan at a crucial stage. The match went to the last ball when Mumbai Indians needed 2 runs off the final delivery. Yuvraj Singh dived to run-out Vikrant Yeligati as he tried to take a single. In an exciting manner, Kings XI Punjab won the match by just 1 run due to Yuvraj Singh’s amazing fielding.

Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Final (DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai)

Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals final match in IPL 2008 was also an exciting match as the result did not come till the last delivery of the match. Chennai Super Kings batted first and scored 163-5. Suresh Raina hit 43 runs while opener Pathil Patel scored 38 runs. MS Dhoni also played a quickfire knock of 29 off 17 balls.

While chasing, Rajasthan Royals’ Swapnil Asnodkar and Shane Watson scored 28 runs each. Yusuf Pathan made a crucial contribution with his 56 runs. On the final ball, Rajasthan Royals needed 1 run and Sohail Tanvir managed to hit the winning runs for his team. Rajasthan Royals won the trophy after winning the match by 3 wickets. Yusuf Pathan won the player of the match award while Rajasthan Royals’ Shane Watson was awarded player of the series.