Arguably, the hardest T20 tournament in the world is the IPL, and the players playing the tourney will be under the spotlight every time. The expectation surrounding them is too high, and it results in a lot of pressure on an individual to perform. These are just for a normal league game in the IPL, so you can imagine the pressures when it comes to the playoffs/knockouts.
Just like every T20 league, IPL practices the format of playing an Eliminator, Qualifiers, and Final in its playoff itinerary. The importance of these games is tremendous and whoever does well is noticed and will become part of the IPL folklore.
There are individuals who have consistently done well in this phase and helped their team come out on top. An impactful 50 or more runs can be considered match-winning and a significant contribution by a batter in the T20 format.
We will talk about the batters who have hit the most number of 50+ scores in successful IPL playoff games.
Most 50+ Scores in Wins in IPL Playoffs
| Player | 50+ Scores | Runs (in these games) | Strike Rate (in these games) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suresh Raina (CSK) | 5 | 321 | 165.46 |
| Faf du Plessis (CSK) | 3 | 203 | 145.00 |
| Michael Hussey (CSK) | 3 | 205 | 137.58 |
| Venkatesh Iyer (KKR) | 3 | 158 | 166.31 |
| Shane Watson (CSK, RR) | 3 | 219 | 185.59 |
| AB de Villiers (RCB) | 2 | 145 | 170.58 |
| Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) | 2 | 130 | 138.29 |
| Rohit Sharma (MI) | 2 | 118 | 153.24 |
| Lendl Simmons (MI) | 2 | 133 | 138.54 |
| Murali Vijay (CSK) | 2 | 208 | 189.09 |
Key Insights
There are two other batters who have had two scores of fifty or more in winning causes in an IPL playoff game. They are Suryakumar Yadav, who did so for Mumbai in 2019 and 2020, and the other is David Warner, who hit two of them in 2016 edition.
Suresh Raina not only leads with the most fifty-plus scores in successful games for his team, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), but also struck 423 runs in 13 games for the side in the knockouts. Those are the most runs for any player in a winning cause. Shubman Gill comes in second spot with 312 runs in six games, while MS Dhoni has 280 runs in 18 successful IPL playoff games.
Raina has seven scores of 50 or more in the IPL playoffs, which is the most for any player irrespective of result and four batters (Shane Watson, Mike Hussey, Dwayne Smith, and Venkatesh Iyer) share the second place with four fifty-plus scores each.
There are seven batters who have hit a century in knockouts, and six have resulted in a win. The only player whose century came up short of a win was Wriddhiman Saha’s 115* for PBKS against KKR in the IPL 2024 final.
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