The peaks of IPL 2020: Five highest individual scores of the tournament

The 2020 season of the Indian Premier League, was arguably one of the most closely competed editions of the tournament till date. Even during the last days of the league stage, there was no certainty in the layout of the points table, and which teams would make it to the playoffs. And, during the course of these closely contested games, certain batsmen rose to the occasion for their team and produced what can be labelled as some of the most memorable innings. Here’s a look at 5 such batting performances by the batters who helped their team cruise through the matches whenever they needed them to.

5. Shikhar Dhawan (101* off 58 balls, Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings)

Registering his first century in the Indian Premier League, Shikhar Dhawan, in his team’s match against Chennai Super Kings, took the bowlers to the task and hit a century off just 58 deliveries. Opening the batting in the second innings of the match, chasing down a score of 179 runs, Shikhar was off to a flyer of a start. And, much to the horror of the CSK bowlers, he never slowed down. While batsmen at the other end came and went, Dhawan, looked well settled and was scoring runs left and right. He helped his team get past the total they were set to chase with ease as DC won the match by 5 wickets. En route to his score of 101, he hit 14 fours and 1 six.

4. Mayank Agarwal (106 off 50 balls, Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals)

Mayank Agarwal too in this season of the Indian Premier League made himself part of the list of players who have scored a century in this tournament when he scored his maiden ton while playing for the Kings XI Punjab against the Rajasthan Royals. Batting in the first inning of the match, Mayank thrashed the RR bowlers to all parts of the ground, hitting 10 fours and 7 sixes, helping him get to a total of 106 runs off just 50 balls. His team got to a total of 223 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. But, to his dismay, the match ended with Rajasthan winning the game by a 4-wicket margin, thanks to the 85 run knock by Sanju Samson.

3. Shikhar Dhawan (106* runs off 61 balls, Delhi Capitals vs Kings XI Punjab)

Shikhar Dhawan, just a couple of days, after scoring his first century in the Indian Premier League, followed it up with an equally heroic and impactful knock in a match against the Kings XI Punjab. This time around, Dhawan’s century came while his team was batting in the first inning. And, a somewhat same storyline

Back to back 100s for @SDhawan25 ??

He is the first player to have consecutive centuries in IPL.

Take a bow, Gabbar #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/yNlWGTni0Y

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 20, 2020

unfolded in this inning too as, while the Delhi batsmen fell around him, Dhawan continued batting. He faced a total of 61 deliveries and scored 106 runs at a strike rate of 173.77. Though Delhi went on to lose the match by 5 wickets, this match would remain a special one for Dhawan. This is because he became the first batsman in the history of the IPL to score back to back tons.

2. Ben Stokes (107* off 60 balls, Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals)

Ben Stokes – 107*
Sanju Samson – 54*

RR chased down Mumbai’s 195 with 8 wickets in hand!! #IPL2020 #MIvRR #HallaBol #MumbaiIndians pic.twitter.com/GszjEn7jws

— Cric Trend (@crictrend_) October 26, 2020

This match was one of the few occasions during the course of this season of the Indian Premier League, where the Mumbai Indians’ bowlers found themselves in a somewhat helpless position. Ben Stokes’ heroics helped his team beat the side that went on to win the tournament. Set a score of 196 runs to chase in 20 overs, things didn’t go well for RR at the start of their innings, as they lost their captain and one of the openers, Steve Smith and Robin Uthappa. But, Stokes with the support of Sanju Samson from the other end, hit the Mumbai bowlers for 107 runs off 60 deliveries and helped his team get to an 8-wicket win. This knock earned Stokes the Man of the Match award.

1. KL Rahul (132 runs* off 69 balls, Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore)

The highest individual score of the tournament and KL Rahul’s personal best score came when his team, Kings XI Punjab played against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Rahul, who had been tasked with leading the team, did it by setting a great example. In the first innings of the match, the Kings XI Punjab were batting first and would have wanted to set a sizable total on the board for their bowlers to work around. KL Rahul, off his team’s total of 206 runs, scored 132 runs off 69 deliveries, where he hit as many as 14 fours and 7 sixes. In response to KXIP’s total, RCB posted only 109 runs and KXIP won the game by 97 runs, and Rahul was crowned the Man of the Match.