Despite a tricky pitch and some excellent bowling from SRH, Shikhar Dhawan rose to the occasion and played arguably his best IPL innings. He scored an impressive 66-ball 99. Despite the match’s outcome, Dhawan was awarded the POTM award for his outstanding batting performance. Rahul Tripathi’s counterattacking knock took the game away from PBKS, resulting in an 8-wicket loss for the visitors. There have been several other instances where a player from the losing side has been awarded POTM.
Let’s look at 3 such instances:
3) Adam Zampa (RPSG) – 6/19 against SRH, 2016
SRH opted to bat first and set a target, but their batters could not get going quickly on the slower surface. After Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Shikhar Dhawan, Yuvraj Singh and Kane Williamson managed to hold their nerve and steady the ship. However, towards the end of the innings, Zampa got into his groove, and the SRH batters had no answer to him as he took six top-quality scalps, including those of Yuvraj, Williamson, Moises Henriques and Deepak Hooda.
His impressive figures of 6/19 helped restrict SRH to 137/8 in 20 overs. Despite that, SRH managed to put up a spirited fight, courtesy of a brilliant bowling performance by Ashish Nehra, to beat RPSG by four runs. Zampa was named POTM for his exceptional bowling display, even though his team lost the match.
2) Chris Morris 82* (32) and 2/35 against GL, 2016
The Gujarat Lions posted 172/6, thanks to half-centuries from Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum. Morris picked up two wickets, giving away 35 runs. DD’s chase ran into trouble at 57/4 when Chris Morris joined JP Duminy at the crease. Morris played a blinder of a knock, single-handedly taking the team to 144.
Needing 18 off the last two overs, Morris was batting on 69 off 24, but Praveen Kumar bowled an excellent 19th over, leaving them needing 14 off the last over. Although DD fell to a one-run defeat, Morris was rewarded for his 32-ball 82 with the POTM award.
1) Yusuf Pathan 100 (37) against MI, 2010
Ambati Rayudu and Saurabh Tiwary put on a brilliant batting display, quickly amassing half-centuries and propelling their team to a score of 212/6 in the first innings.
RR found themselves in a difficult situation with the score at 66/4 in 9.2 overs. However, Yusuf Pathan changed the course of the match with some explosive batting. His 37-ball hundred, which included nine fours and eight sixes, saw him score at a remarkable strike rate of 270. Despite Pathan’s heroics, RR eventually fell short of their target by four runs. As a result of his incredible performance, Pathan was awarded POTM for one of the finest knocks the IPL had ever witnessed.