IPL 2018: Top 3 unbeaten chasing knocks that were insufficient for the win
Going by the old-school lesson, batting in cricket was all about getting in and settling yourself up for the acceleration.
The new batting partner at the other end just needed to give the settled batsman the strike to explode.
That was well enough to win ODI matches while chasing. That was the trend before the advent of T20 games.
T20s, especially IPL has taught us some broader lessons, the most recent addition is one cannot win the game single-handed even in the shortest format.
Especially, while chasing the bigger targets, the batsman gets very little time to establish himself according to the nature of the pitch.
Even if he does, it is his ability to switch gears that plays a crucial role in finishing the game in his team's favor.
Adding to it, he would also need some support from his partner who needs to hit occasional boundaries and keep the scoreboard ticking, thereby easing out the pressure.
We witnessed some scintillating knocks this season, especially from the teams batting second that had unfortunately failed because of the lack of support from rest of their batsmen. Over here are the top knocks that saw their teams fail ultimately:
#1 MS Dhoni's knock against Kings XI Punjab
Chasing a stiff target of 198, Chennai Super Kings were in an average position of 57/3 in 6.4 overs when MS Dhoni came to the crease.
Ambati Rayudu and the skipper played cautiously not to lose any more wickets, at the same time scored timely boundaries to keep themselves in the hunt.
The duo which added 57 runs to its name was split by a direct hit from R Ashwin. R Jadeja who scored 19 runs off 13 balls got out in the penultimate over leaving his team needing 35 runs off ten balls.
The Wicket-keeper batsman, with a sore back, still managed to smack 18 off Tye's last four balls.
Needing 17 off the last over, Mohit Sharma nailed his yorkers on the wide line to perfection. Requiring impossible 11 off the ultimate ball, the unbeaten batsman(79*) could only smash a six and not more than that to fall short by four runs. This is the highest score of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in T20 arena.
The former national skipper played a gem of an innings, but his instinct to shift to the power-hitting only by 17th over (the sore back might have played its part) proved to be a little too late. It was that factor which dragged the special knock of such a caliber including six fours and five sixes to end up on the losing side.
This made Dhoni, in the following matches, turn on his hitting mode earlier to his usual eruption which proved to be successful for the Whistle Podu army.
Result: Kings XI Punjab beat Chennai Super Kings by four runs