Shane Watson
Shane Watson (Image Credit: Twitter)

The IPL has seen a lot of games go into the wire over the years and the popularity or the competitiveness of the tournament has never been a question mark yet. The franchises have put in a lot of effort to build a good team for a season and so far, Mumbai Indians have been the most successful franchise with as many as five IPL titles in their kitty.

The tournament standard has been really high and the fact remains, that all the franchises have been done well over the years and no team can be ruled out at any stage. The stage is set for IPL 2021 to get underway on April 9 and Mumbai Indians will start as the defending champions. Here, are the five best matches in the history of the tournament.

5 Best Matches In The History Of The Tournament:

Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings, Dubai 2020:

Orange Cap
KL Rahul. Photo Credit: BCCI/IPL.

This game will be famously remembered for the double super over that took place in the IPL for the first time. Mumbai Indians batted first and scored 176 on the board for the loss of six wickets with a half-century from Quinton De Kock and quickfire cameos from Kieron Pollard and Nathan Coulter Nile.

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In Reply, Punjab Kings tied the score at the end of 20 overs on the back of a 77 run knock from KL Rahul. The super over started with Bumrah’s bowling and he conceded just five runs. Shami restricted Mumbai giving away five runs in reply and the match went into the second super over. Mumbai batted first this time and could get 11 runs in Chris Jordan’s over. In reply, Agarwal and Gayle finished off the chase in one of the best matches in IPL history.

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings, Hyderabad, 2019 Final:

Lasith Malinga
Kieron Pollard carrying Lasith Malinga. (Credits: Twitter)

The most controversial IPL final was under-display as Mumbai Indians had to take on their rivals Chennai Super Kings in the 2019 final and this was a big match for all the fans as both teams have won three titles each until that. Mumbai Indians batted first and scored 149 runs for the loss of 8 wickets at the 20th mark, with contributions of a 41 run knock from Kieron Pollard.

Chennai Super Kings in reply, had a lot of hiccups as they were continuously losing wickets at one end and Shane Watson held another end with a splendid knock of 80 off just 52 deliveries. The match went into the last over, and CSK needed two runs off the last ball with Shardul Thakur on strike. The death bowling veteran Lasith Malinga did the job again as bowled a slower delivery to dismiss Thakur as the umpire adjudged him LBW. Mumbai Indians won their fourth title and became the most successful team.

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Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, Chennai, 2012 Final:

Manvinder Bisla
Manvinder Bisla[photo: Twitter]
Kolkata Knight Riders playing their first final were against the two-time defending champions Chennai Super Kings and all the odds were against KKR. CSK batted first in their home conditions and posted a huge total of 190 for four in their 20 overs with contributions from Vijay, Hussey, and Raina. It was a daunting task for the KKR as no team had chased down a score like that in the final.

KKR in reply lost their skipper Gambhir early but founded a new hero in Manvinder Bisla who played one of the best innings in an IPL final with 89 off just 48 balls. All-rounder Jacques Kallis contributed with 69 off 49 deliveries too.  KKR required nine runs in their last over and Manoj Tiwary hit two boundaries to seal the first IPL victory for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, Bengaluru, 2014 Final:

Wriddhiman Saha
Wriddhiman Saha[photo: Twitter]
Punjab’s first final saw them take the field against Kolkata Knight Rider to whom they have lost the last two times. Punjab batted first and scored 199 for the loss of four wickets in their 20 overs. Wriddhiman Saha scored a brilliant century with 115 runs from 55 balls with support from Manan Vohra who hit 67 runs off 52 balls.

Kolkata Knight Riders in reply lost the early wicket of Robin Uthappa who was in fine form in the season, but Manish Pandey brought the best out of himself with a crucial knock of 94 runs off 50 balls. When he was dismissed, KKR just needed 21 off three overs, but the job wasn’t done yet and Piyush Chawla took the Kolkata home with two sixes in the final stages that sealed their second IPL trophy.

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Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai, 2014:

Aditya Tare in IPL
Aditya Tare[photo: Twitter]
This was the best match out of the lot as Mumbai Indians showed some high-class performances. Rajasthan Royals were certainly the favourites to qualify for the playoffs as they had already won seven games and Mumbai had won six games. Rajasthan batted first and scored 189 on the board and Mumbai needed to chase down the score in 14.3 overs to go past Rajasthan and qualify for the playoffs.

The improbable task started with Mumbai getting off to a flyer but Rajasthan tried to get back in the game with 10 for four wickets in 9.2 overs. Corey Anderson and Ambati Rayudu joined hands to form an excellent partnership and had scored 189 at the 14.3 over-mark. Rajasthan had thought they had qualified but Mumbai needed a six off the next delivery to go past Rajasthan and Adithya Tare hit a six which took Mumbai to the playoffs after one of the best IPL games.