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The Indian Premier League (IPL) is the most prestigious T20 franchise league in the world. A century in an IPL match is a rare occurrence, and more often than not results in the team's victory.
But there have been twelve instances in the history of the IPL when a century has come in a losing cause. Hashim Amla could be considered the most unfortunate batsman in this regard, with both his centuries in the IPL going in vain.
Out of these 12 centuries in the IPL that could not result in wins for the respective teams, eight were scored by Indian batsmen. One such century, scored by Wriddhiman Saha in IPL 2014, even happened to come in the final of the lucrative league.
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On that note, let us take a look at 3 such centuries scored by some of the prominent Indian batsmen.
Three Indian batsmen with IPL centuries in a losing cause
#1: Sachin Tendulkar - 100* (MI vs KTK - IPL 2011)
Sachin Tendulkar was the second Indian batsman and the third overall to have scored an IPL century in a losing cause. This happened in an encounter between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kochi Tuskers Kerala (KTK) in IPL 2011.
The KTK captain Mahela Jayawardene won the toss and opted to field first at the Wankhede Stadium. Tendulkar walked out to open the batting for MI along with Davy Jacobs.
The Indian batting maestro went on the attack from the word go, with 44 runs coming in the 6 overs of the powerplay, with Jacobs' contribution being only 3 runs. The latter succumbed to the mounting pressure as he was dismissed in the 9th over, with the MI score reading 61/1.
Tendulkar was joined at the wicket by Ambati Rayudu, who also showed his attacking instincts early on. The former brought up his half-century with a single to deep square leg off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja.
The pair continued to hit boundaries at will, with Tendulkar on an unbeaten 90 at the start of the final over bowled by Vinay Kumar. He struck a boundary of the third ball of the over to inch closer to his hundred.
Rayudu was run out off the fourth delivery of the same over, sacrificing his wicket while trying to steal the second run to get Tendulkar back on strike. The latter muscled the penultimate ball for a boundary to be one short of his century, with just one delivery to go.
Tendulkar placed the final delivery through extra cover to bring up his maiden IPL century. This unbeaten 100-run knock came off 66 deliveries, and was studded with 12 boundaries and 3 hits over the fence.
Unfortunately, the 183-run target turned out to be a walk in the park for KTK, as they registered an easy 8-wicket victory with an over to spare. Brendon McCullum and the captain Jayawardene led the chase for the Kerala outfit with half-centuries to their name.
Sachin Tendulkar's only IPL century thus went in vain.
#2: Virat Kohli - 100* (RCB vs GL - IPL 2016)
Virat Kohli was the fourth Indian batsman and the fifth overall who scored an IPL century in a losing cause. This happened in the encounter between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the Gujarat Lions (GL) in IPL 2016.
Kohli, the RCB captain, won the toss and opted to bat first in an away match at Rajkot. He himself walked in as one of the openers along with Shane Watson.
RCB did not get off to the best of starts with Watson being dismissed for just 6 runs in the 2nd over. Kohli then stitched a half-century partnership with AB de Villiers, before the latter fell in the 8th over with the score reading 59 for the loss of 2 wickets.
The current Indian captain was joined in the middle by KL Rahul at the fall of De Villiers' wicket. The pair initially built a solid platform and then went on a rampage.
Kohli brought up his half-century with a steer through cover that fetched a couple of runs. At the end of the penultimate over, RCB had reached a score of 163/2 with Kohli on an unbeaten 85.
The first 3 deliveries of the final over bowled by Dwayne Bravo fetched only a couple of singles. This left Kohli needing 14 runs off the final 3 balls to get to the three-figure mark.
The RCB captain smashed Bravo's fourth delivery for a six. This was followed by a boundary straight down the ground off the fifth ball of the over.
Needing 4 runs off the final delivery, Kohli slashed a wide yorker over point for a boundary to bring up his maiden T20 century. The unbeaten 100-run knock had come off 63 deliveries, and was studded with 11 fours and the solitary six that came in the last over.
Unfortunately, the 181-run target did not turn out to be sufficient as the Gujarat outfit overhauled the score with 6 wickets in hand and 3 deliveries to spare. It was an all-round batting effort from the Gujarat Lions, with Dinesh Karthik top-scoring with an unbeaten half-century.
Thus, Virat Kohli's maiden IPL century went in vain, much like his idol Sachin Tendulkar.
#3: Rishabh Pant - 128* (DC vs SRH - IPL 2018)
Rishabh Pant was the fifth Indian batsman and the ninth overall to have struck an IPL century in a losing cause. This happened in an encounter between the Delhi Capitals (DC), then called Delhi Daredevils, and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in IPL 2018.
The DC captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat at their home ground. The Capitals got off to a poor start, and lost 2 early wickets with just 21 runs on the board.
Pant then joined Iyer in the middle and went on the attack right from the outset. Even though he lost his captain to a run-out, due a mix-up between the pair, the former did not hold back and continued to go for the big shots.
The last ball of the 14th over saw Harshal Patel also getting run out after another misunderstanding with the wicketkeeper-batsman. But this also did not deter Pant as he brought up his fifty off the very next delivery, with a mighty six over midwicket.
All hell broke loose after that as Pant went on a rampage, with all the SRH bowlers facing the brunt of his willow. He brought up his hundred with a boundary over midwicket off the second delivery of the 19th over.
Pant was not done yet as he walloped Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 26 runs in the final over, after Glenn Maxwell had been dismissed off the first ball of the same over.
Rishabh Pant's brutal unbeaten 128-run knock had come off just 63 deliveries, and was studded with 15 fours and 7 mighty sixes. He had almost single-handedly taken DC to a score of 187/5 in their allotted 20 overs.
Unfortunately, this target didn't prove to be enough for SRH as they romped home with 9 wickets in hand and 7 deliveries to spare. Shikhar Dhawan (92*) and Kane Williamson (83*) were the star performers for the Hyderabad franchise.
Rishabh Pant's swashbuckling maiden IPL century thus went in vain.
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