Top 5 moments of IPL 2024 ft. Virat Kohli
The IPL 2024 season finally came to a conclusion with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) sealing a thumping win over the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the final to seal their third IPL title. The mighty batting line-up of the SunRisers could only muster 113, thanks to a brilliant all-round effort with the ball from Kolkata.
While every IPL game has given fans several moments that have made them debate and generate a buzz on social media, there are some moments that will be remembered for a longer time as one of the standouts from the current season.
On that note, let's take a look at five of the best moments from the IPL 2024 season:
#5 Will Jacks' sensational hundred
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were down in the dumps with just one win from their first eight games, but made a sensational comeback to win six on the bounce to make it to the playoffs. One of the best moments for them on the route to the comeback was a brilliant hundred from Will Jacks.
The England all-rounder at one stage was batting on a run-a-ball 17. However, he scored 83 runs in the remaining 24 balls to bring up a mind-boggling 41-ball hundred. He took Rashid Khan to the cleaners and Virat Kohli at the other end was thrilled to watch the ball sail over the fence. His emotions on seeing those sixes resembled that of what most RCB fans would have felt.
#4 Jos Buttler's heroic hundred against KKR
KKR posted a mammoth target of 224 for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) thanks to a brilliant hundred from Sunil Narine (109). While the Royals had Jos Buttler at one end in the chase, the opener seemed to be struggling with a niggle for the first half of his innings and the visitors kept losing wickets at regular intervals.
However, just as the Eden Gardens crowd would have felt that their team had sealed a win, Buttler began an extraordinary comeback. In a one-man-army effort, the star opener single-handedly accelerated the chase and took his team over the line with just one wicket in hand. His 107* off 60 balls will certainly go down as one of the best hundreds ever in the history of the IPL.
#3 PBKS chasing 262 against KKR
KKR were on the receiving end of another extraordinary chase on their home ground, this time against the Punjab Kings (PBKS). It looked like a foregone conclusion that Kolkata had batted Punjab out of the game when the hosts posted a mind-blowing 261/6 in their 20 overs.
However, Prabhsimran Singh (54) gave his team an ideal start to the chase and got able support from Jonny Bairstow. While Prabhsimran was run out, Bairstow went on to score a brilliant 108* off just 48 balls. Shashank Singh, one of the breakout Indian stars of the tournament, contributed 68* off 28 as the duo took PBKS cruising over the line with eight wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.
#2 Travishek humbling LSG
With the IPL 2024 playoff spot on the line, the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had to beat SRH in their own den. KL Rahul and his men opted to bat first and posted 165/4. It seemed like there was a bit of hold in the pitch and that possibly LSG's bowlers could make a match out of it.
However, the reality was as far away from it as it could be as Travis Head (89* off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (75* off 28) made an absolute mockery of the chase. The duo added 167 runs in just 9.4 overs and made a huge dent in LSG's net run rate and their confidence. The Super Giants just couldn't recover from the psychological blow of such a 10-wicket drubbing.
#1 The thrilling final over in RCB vs CSK
Arguably the best moment of the IPL 2024 season was when RCB held their nerves in a tense finish against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The two teams knew that only one of them would qualify for the IPL 2024 playoffs at the end of their game and that made it a fascinating encounter.
Chennai needed 17 runs off the final over to ensure that despite the defeat, they go to the playoffs ahead of RCB because of their net run rate. MS Dhoni began the over with a six off Yash Dayal and sent the ball out of the stadium. However, that proved to be a blessing in disguise for RCB as they got a drier ball.
That helped Dayal to bowl his slower deliveries into the pitch and Chennai fell 10 runs short of what they needed to qualify. The scenes were magnificent in Bengaluru as the RCB players had completed a remarkable comeback. Virat Kohli was almost in tears and that just summed up his passion for the game.