5 IPL innings with highest strike-rates

With the advent of T20 cricket, the strike-rates of batsmen have become important and are now considered a key component of the statistics. A lot of batsmen can just leave an impact with a quick cameo with a massive strike-rate.

In the IPL, we have seen a lot of such cameos where the momentum of the game has taken a massive turn with one knock. Hence, we look at five IPL innings which had the highest strike-rate.

Note – Batsmen with minimum 25 runs have been considered.

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#5 AB de Villiers - 372.72 vs Mumbai Indians (2015)

Ab de Villiers threatened to take the game away from MI

AB de Villiers is undoubtedly one of the best batsmen in the world at the moment in all three formats. In 2015, he started the year by scoring the fastest ODI hundred (in just 31 balls) against West Indies and had a fabulous World Cup as well.

In 2015, RCB were off to an indifferent start and though they won the first game, they faltered in the next. As far as De Villiers was concerned, he had got starts but failed to convert them.

In their third game of the season, RCB elected to field first after winning the toss against Mumbai Indians. MI were off to a good start and fifties from Lendl Simmons and Unmukt Chand and a blazing 15-ball 42 from Rohit Sharma propelled them to 209.

AB de Villiers walked in at No. 5 for RCB with the score reading 62/3 in the 11th over. The required run-rate had already shot up to 15.57. But as soon as the South African star walked out, he started shifting the momentum. He hit Mitchell McClenaghan for 2 fours and a six to start his innings.

Karthik got out in the 13th over, but that didn’t stop De Villiers. He got stuck into Lasith Malinga. The Sri Lankan star pacer was hit for two sixes and two fours in the 13th over as MI started to feel the pressure. In just 10 balls, De Villiers had raced off to 41, however, the carnage came to an end as he holed out.

It was an extraordinary innings from the then South African skipper as he put the MI bowlers under a lot of pressure. After De Villiers’ dismissal, Wiese continued the RCB fight but eventually, the Bangalore franchise fell short by 18 runs.

#4 Balachandra Akhil – 385.71 vs Deccan Chargers (2008)

Akhil played domestic cricket for Karnataka in the 2000s

Not many have heard about Balachandra Akhil. He was a utility player - bowled medium pace and batted in the middle-order for Karnataka and was one of their key members for almost a decade. He was also a part of the RCB setup in the first three years and played 15 IPL games where he picked up six wickets at an economy of 7.72.

In 2008, both Royal Challengers Bangalore and Deccan Chargers had disappointing outings. At the fag end of the tournament, the two teams were battling hard not to finish with the wooden spoon and in the 51st game of the season, these teams faced off against each other.

Batting first, Deccan Chargers got to 165. Chasing more than 8 runs per over, three out of the top four RCB batsmen got into the 30s but none of them could convert it into a big score. With 25 to get in 16 balls, Akhil walked out to join Cameron White in the middle, who was looking in good touch.

But Akhil took it upon himself to finish the game as he struck a 7-ball 27 to win RCB the game with 6 balls to spare. He struck his first couple of balls for fours to get going and then hit three sixes in the 19th over to finish the game.

#3 AB de Villiers – 387.50 vs Pune Warriors India (2013)

AB de Villiers was once again brilliant in that game where Gayle scored 175

AB de Villiers features in this list once again. Remember the game in which Chris Gayle went berserk and scored a staggering 175 not out? That Gayle innings overshadowed one of the best cameos in IPL cricket.

After Gayle got his hundred off just 30 deliveries, he was tiring out. He took 15 balls to score his next 15 runs before going on the attack once again. RCB lost Dilshan in the 14th over and Virat Kohli in the 17th and it was then that AB de Villiers walked in at No. 4.

The first ball he faced was a wide (bouncer over the head) and the carnage started with his legitimate first delivery as he slogged a low full-toss for four before he hit a six over long-on off his second ball.

De Villiers the hit Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a boundary before smashing Mitchell Marsh for a four and two sixes to race off to 31 off just 7 deliveries. His innings soon came to an end as Marsh got him out in the same over, but it was one of the best cameos as De Villiers had a staggering strike-rate of 387.50.

That AB innings helped RCB get past the 250-run mark and they won that game by a whopping margin of 130 runs.

#2 Albie Morkel – 400.00 vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (2012)

Albie Morkel bludgeoned Kohli for 28 runs

This is one innings RCB fans would want to forget. In 2012, Royal Challengers Bangalore batted first and scored 205 in their 20 overs. Mayank Agarwal scored an eye-catching 45, Chris Gayle scored a 35-ball 68 and Virat Kohli made 57. However, in the final over of the innings, RCB could only manage seven runs as they lost four wickets off the first five balls before Vinay Kumar struck the last ball for a six to push them over 200.

Chasing 206 was always going to be difficult especially after fielding for more than 90 minutes in the scorching Chennai heat. But Faf du Plessis batted really well. He scored 71 in 46 balls to give Chennai Super Kings a good platform. However, when he was dismissed CSK still needed 78 runs in 33 balls. MS Dhoni was at the crease and was trying hard but even he was dismissed on the last ball of the 18th over.

With 43 to get in two overs, the game was almost done and dusted. Albie Morkel walked out to bat at that stage. Raju Bhatkal was taken for a lot of runs and Virat Kohli had bowled a decent first over. Hence, Daniel Vettori gave Kohli the ball in the 19th over and the game turned on its head.

Morkel hit Kohli for three sixes and two fours and fetched 28 runs off the penultimate over to suddenly bring the game back to life. Kohli and the RCB fans were distraught. Defending 15 in the last over, Vinay Kumar dismissed Morkel off the second delivery but couldn’t keep his nerve as Bravo and Jadeja helped CSK cross the finish line.

#1 Chris Morris – 422.22 vs Rising Pune Supergiant (2017)

Morris took DD from 166 to 205 in the space of 10 balls

Chris Morris has played for three teams in the IPL. He played 16 games for Chennai Super Kings in the 2013 edition of the IPL before he was picked by Rajasthan Royals in 2015. He was then scalped by Delhi Daredevils where he has had a fantastic time (in terms of record).

After a wonderful 2016 where he scored 195 runs (at an average of 65.00 and a strike-rate of 178.90) and picked up 13 wickets, he entered the record books in just his second game in the 10th edition of the IPL in 2017. After being put into bat by Rising Pune Supergiant, Delhi Daredevils lost Aditya Tare in the second over.

However, Sanju Samson scored a magnificent ton (102 in just 63 balls) to provide DD with a perfect platform for a big finish. Samson was dismissed on the second ball of the 19th over and in walked Chris Morris at 166/4.

With 10 balls left, Morris went berserk. He faced nine of those deliveries and scored 38 runs. He hit Adam Zampa for two fours and a six in the 19th over. Stokes bowled the 20th over and was smashed all around the park. Morris hit two fours and two sixes in the final over to propel DD to a big score of 205.

RPS never got going and were bowled out for just 108 to give DD a big win.