Indian Premier League is a hotbed of talents that simply knows no bounds once the domestic extravaganza is afoot. Spanning from magical knocks with the bat to extraterrestrial bowling spells, whatever you look for in a premium level franchise tournament, IPL returns you more than your expectations.
One of the many feats which lionize a team in the tournament is their ability to cross the hallowed mark of 200 runs in an innings. Though the fray is a lot more kind to batsmen, yet scoring anything beyond 170 needs a lot of character and vision. However, if you manage to cross the coveted figures of 200, that places you on a pedestal which is only shared by stalwarts of the game.
To make this interesting, when you choose a specific opponent for this particular storm, it gets tagged as a beatdown and that is what makes this fact a lot more interesting. We are going to look at five franchises of IPL who managed to smash the most number of 200’s against a particular opponent in this annual showdown.
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore – 5 times versus Kings XI Punjab
One of the most heavyweight teams in the paper, their first 200 against Punjab came in 2010 where Kallis posted an unbeaten 89, laced with some blistering fireworks in the end by Robin Uthappa. This was followed by their second 200 in 2011 when Gayle heralded the onset of a storm with a devastating 107 that was followed by some late blasters from ABD.
The third of the bunch arrived in 2015 when it Gayle again at the helm of destruction as he stitched a fierce 117 from only 57 deliveries while ABD provided a late dance smashing a quickfire 47. It seemed that Gayle had a special knack for hurting Punjab as he opted for another glittering showdown of 73 from 32 deliveries as Bangalore rocked their 4th 200 against Kings. However, the star of the match was Virat Kohli who smashed a 50-ball 113 that saw Bangalore posting 211 for 5.
The last one of the lot came in the preceding edition of the fray as Marcus Stoinis and AB De Villiers joined forces to wreck a Punjab ship, thanks to the brilliant 82 from the former South African captain.
2. Mumbai Indians – 4 times versus Delhi Capitals
The defending champions have managed to achieve this feat a record four times, thanks to Sachin Tendulkar who started it all when he went berserk in 2010, taking the Delhi bowlers to the cleaners in stunning fashion. Mumbai posted 218, courtesy of some late heroics from Saurabh Tiwary too.
The second of the lot arrived in 2013 when Dinesh Kartik freed his arms and swung some vicious strokes alongside the pyrotechnics of Rohit Sharma. Ambati Rayudu sliced some brilliant strokes in the end to help Mumbai climbing the 200-run ladder. The third of the lot arrived in 2016 when Krunal Pandya chose to showcase his batting heroics as he went after every single bowler and managed to score a brilliant 86 at the end that propelled Mumbai to 206.
The last one of the lot arrived in 2017 when it was collaborative essay by Lendl Simmons, Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard as they managed to pile up 212 on the board.
3. Kings XI Punjab – 4 times versus Chennai Super Kings
As the two sides met for the first time in Indian Premier League, it was a run-fest between these two. James Hopes and Kumara Sangakkara danced to the tones of hammering Chennai as the duo helped Punjab reach 205 which was chased down by the latter as Mike Hussey stormed his way to the top.
The second came when Punjab chased down a mammoth total of 205 with 7 balls to spare. Maxwell plucked the strings of destruction while David Miller gave the tune to it.
The third of the lot arrived in 2014’s IPL, thanks to some relentless batting from Glenn Maxwell who found salvation in that year. His 38-ball 90 laced with a Miller and Bailey storm in the end, blew away the Super Kings from the contest.
The final one arrived in the same year when Sehwag lost his calm and killed the Chennai bowlers with a blazing 122 from 58 balls. It was laced with joint cameos from David Miller and Manan Vohra.
4. Kolkata Knightriders – 4 times versus Kings XI Punjab
The love story shared by these two is one to cherish for ages as the first of the 200 arrived in 2010 which went in a lost cause as Gayle posted 88 from 42 balls that helped KKR to 200. However, Jayawardene played a spectacular inning to leave Kolkata begging.
The second one of the lot arrived in the 2014 final when Manish Pandey stitched a blazing 94 to usher KKR home to their second IPL silverware. The third one of the slew came in 2018 when KKR produced fireworks of the highest order, thanks to Sunil Narine and Dinesh Kartik who left the Punjab bowlers punchdrunk with some merciless hitting.
The final one came in the preceding edition of IPL as Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana and Andre Russell joined forces to rain sixes in Eden Gardens while Punjab’s attempt to surpass it went down in flames.
5. Sunrisers Hyderabad – 4 times versus Royal Challengers Bangalore
The first 200 against RCB for Sunrisers came in the 2016 final, thanks to some phenomenal batting from Dave Warner, Yuvraj Singh and Ben Cutting. Despite Bangalore cutting close, they were finally left adrift by 8 runs.
The second of the four came in 2017 when Yuvraj Singh, Moises Henriques and Shikhar Dhawan collectively wrought destruction upon Bangalore. Chasing an uphill total of 219, Hyderabad managed to post 204 in their third two-hundred haul. Kane Williamson and Manish Pandey were the heroes for the night.
The last one of the lot came in 2019 as Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan stitched the highest opening partnership of IPL while the dup saw to the team’s mammoth total of 231 runs.
