XtraTime Web Desk: The Indian Premier League 2018 is set to start in a months time where eight teams will face each other on home and away basis to win the cash-rich league. In the past ten seasons we have seen a lot of matches where a lot of matches ended in a dramatic way when the batsman hit the last ball for a six and helped his side to win.
As the cricket crazy country is getting ready for a new IPL season, we will take a look at five moments where a batsman hit a six in the last ball of the game.
1. Rohit Sharma (DC) vs KKR (2009)
It was a league match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma was on strike and the bowler was Mashrafe Mortaza and the Hyderabad outfit needed 21 runs in the final over. The first ball was a no ball and Rohit did nothing wrong and send it straight to the boundary. In the third delivery Mortaza bowled a juicy full toss and Rohit didn’t do any wrong to send the ball in the crowd. After taking a couple and a boundery in the fourth and fifth delivery the equation was just 1 run in 1 ball and Rohit ended the match by hitting a big six over backward-square.
2. Rohit Sharma (MI) vs PWI (2011)
It was Rohit Sharma again, but this time for Mumbai Indians. While chasing a easy total of 119 runs to win, but Mumbai batsmen tottered in the middle and at one stage they were in a losing position. Veteran Murali Karthik was bowling the last over as Mumbai needed just 5 runs to win. In the last couple of deliveries MI needed 2 runs to win. Symonds picked a single and gave the strike to Rohit. In the final ball Rohit hit a mammoth of a six to take his side home in a jam packed Wankhede Stadium.
3. Saurabh Tiwary (RCB) vs PWI (2012)
In the IPL 2012 the cricket fans saw another dramatic finish in a game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Pune Warriors India. While chasing a target of 183 runs to win, RCB needed 21 runs to win in the final over of the game.
Saurabh Tiwary and AB de Villiers were in the middle. In the second ball of the last over, De Villiers showed why he is called one of the best batsmen in the world as he hit a cracking boundary against Ashish Nehra, which was followed by two gigantic sixes. He then took a single on the fifth delivery and it was Saurabh who had to score three runs from the final ball, but the Jharkhand power-hitter hit the ball out of the boundary for a six to give the side a dramatic victory.
4. Dwayne Bravo (CSK) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (2012)
KKR posted a challenging total of 159 runs on board while batting first. In reply CSK needed just 9 runs to win in the final over, with skipper MS Dhoni still in the crease. But Rajat Bhatia bowled a stunner to send the best finisher in the world back to the pavilion. Bhatia gave just three runs in next three deliveries and they needed 5 runs in the final delivery. In the last ball Bhatia, bowled a full toss and Windies sensation Dwayne Bravo did nothing wrong to hit it over the boundary.
5. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (RPS) vs KXIP (2016)
Rising Pune Supergiant needed 23 runs in the in last over and no other teams had chased down that much runs in the history of IPL. Dhoni was at the crease and he hit a six in the second ball of Axar patel. After that the left-arm wrist spinner bowled a crucial dot ball and then the equation was RPS needed 16 runs form 3 deliveries. But one of the greatest finishers of modern day cricket hit a four next ball, which was followed by two gigantic sixes which was just a treat to watch for the cricket fans.