IPL 2021: 3 best knocks in the first phase of the tournament

The IPL 2021 restart has already begun generating buzz, with the franchises making moves ahead of the season resuming on September 19.

The first half of the tournament saw a total of 29 games being played and fans were treated to some scintillating knocks. There were three centurions and 48 scores of 50+ in the edition.

As the world of cricket waits for the season to begin again, we take a look at some of the best knocks the first half of the tournament had to offer.

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#1 Sanju Samson's 119 vs PBKS

Although the Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the game by four runs, Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson almost took his team home with a breathtaking 63-ball 119 studded with 12 fours and three sixes.

Batting first, PBKS posted 221, thanks to KL Rahul (91), Chris Gayle (40) and Deepak Hooda (64) punishing the Rajasthan bowlers. In reply, Samson counter-attacked and how.

The likes of Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson and M Ashwin were taken to the cleaners and if not for the big hit Samson attempted that failed to clear deep cover, the Kerala wicket-keeper would have pulled off a miraculous chase.

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#2 Mayank Agarwal's unbeaten 99 against DC

With KL Rahul ruled out due to acute appendicitis, his fellow Karnataka mate, Mayank Agarwal, took over the captaincy for the Punjab Kings and led from the front with a sparkling 58-ball-99* studded with eight fours and four sixes.

The knock, though, went in vain, as Delhi, buoyed by valuable contributions from Shikhar Dhawan (69*) and Prithvi Shaw (39) who had hit a purple patch in the first half of the IPL, managed to scamper home with seven wickets to spare.

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#3 Kieron Pollard's 34-ball-87* against CSK

The biffing that Kieron Pollard provided in this innings left CSK entirely helpless. It was a relatively lean IPL for the Windies star and he made up for it with a knock that saw six fours and eight sixes dispatched to help Mumbai carve out a four-wicket win.

Put into bat, Chennai rode on knocks from Faf du Plessis (50), Moeen Ali (58) and Ambati Rayudu (72) to set a competitive 219-run target. In reply, MI stuttered at 81 for 3, before Pollard took charge.

The Trinidadian slammed a knock for the ages with Krunal Pandya (32) and Hardik Pandya (16) chipping in with key contributions down the order. In the end, it was a win that took Mumbai to fourth place in the IPL points table 2021.