On the final ball of the 19th over, Washington Sundar crouched low, dropped his right knee almost to the turf, and whipped a low full toss from Eshan Malinga flat over deep midwicket for six. The Gujarat Titans dugout — Shubman Gill with his hands on his head, Rashid Khan laughing — rose as one. The IPL’s official handle called it “Improvisation at its best”. Sundar finished with 50* off 33 balls; GT won by 82 runs.

At 39 for 3 chasing 167, RCB needed a miracle. Krunal Pandya, battling severe cramps that left him crumpled on the turf between deliveries, produced one of the bravest innings in IPL history — 73 off 46 balls with 5 sixes. He was dropped on 59 (a botched relay between Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma), then smashed two sixes on the next two balls, collapsing to the ground in agony after the second. His innings set up a last‑ball two‑wicket win that sent RCB top and eliminated MI.

In the third over of MI’s innings, Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced the spell of the tournament. He delivered a knuckleball outswinger that Rohit Sharma (22) edged to Jitesh Sharma. Next ball — a traditional away‑nipper from a Test‑match length — Suryakumar Yadav pushed tentatively, edged to Virat Kohli at slip, and walked back for a golden duck. Bhuvneshwar was on a hat‑trick. His figures: 4‑0‑23‑4. He was named Player of the Match, and also hit the six in the final over that turned the chase.

For the second match in succession, Virat Kohli fell to the first ball he faced. Against LSG on May 7, Prince Yadav produced a jaffa that jagged through the gate. Against MI on May 10, Deepak Chahar’s second‑ball outswinger with extra bounce drew a miscued lofted drive that Raj Bawa caught at mid‑off. Before May 7, Kohli had not registered a single duck all season. In 96 hours, he collected two. The image of him walking back, head bowed, at Raipur’s Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium became one of the defining — and most haunting — frames of IPL 2026.

In a chase of 204 — CSK’s third‑highest successful run chase in IPL history — Urvil Patel launched four consecutive sixes off Digvesh Rathi in a 25‑run fifth over. He brought up a half‑century in 13 balls, equalling Yashasvi Jaiswal’s record for the fastest IPL fifty by an Indian. He finished with 65 off 23 balls — 8 sixes, 2 fours — and CSK chased down 204 with four balls to spare, eliminating LSG from the playoff race.

Chasing 143 was never going to be difficult, but the way Finn Allen demolished the Delhi Capitals attack was unforgettable. The New Zealand opener, entering as an Impact Sub, smashed 100 not out off 47 balls — 10 sixes, 5 fours, strike rate 212.77 — his maiden IPL century. He brought up the milestone on the final ball of the match with his 10th six. KKR won by 8 wickets with 34 balls remaining.

On a rain‑hit evening in Lucknow, Mitchell Marsh produced the fastest century in LSG history — 49 balls, beating Rishabh Pant’s 54‑ball mark. He finished with 111 off 56 (9 fours, 9 sixes). Rain reduced the match to 19 overs, and under DLS, RCB were set 213. They fell short, and LSG kept their season alive with a nine‑run win.

The highest score by an Indian batter in IPL history. KL Rahul’s immortal 152 not out off 67 balls — 16 fours, 9 sixes, strike rate 226.87 — powered Delhi Capitals to 264/2 against Punjab Kings. He batted all 20 overs in 41‑degree Delhi heat and then kept wicket for the chase. PBKS chased down 265 in 18.5 overs — the highest successful T20 chase in history — but Rahul’s knock transcended the result. He remains the only Indian to score 150‑plus in the IPL.

Punjab Kings did the impossible. They chased 265 — the highest successful run‑chase in T20 cricket history. Prabhsimran Singh’s 76 off 26 balls and an 18‑ball fifty. Priyansh Arya’s 43 off 17. Shreyas Iyer’s 71* off 36. PBKS reached 265/4 in 18.5 overs with seven balls to spare. The match produced 33 sixes and rewired what is possible in a T20 run‑chase.

Amidst the carnage of the 265 chase, PBKS also broke the record for the highest powerplay score in IPL history — 116 for no loss in 6 overs. Prabhsimran Singh struck 71 runs in the powerplay alone, including 24 runs in a single Mukesh Kumar over. Priyansh Arya contributed 43 off 17. DC bowlers had no answer.

On a pitch that was gripping for spinners, Tilak Varma — the young left‑hander carrying MI’s middle order — whipped a length ball on middle stump over deep midwicket with a helicopter shot that would have made MS Dhoni applaud. The bat swirled in a full circle, the wrists generated extraordinary power, and the ball sailed 82 metres into the stands. The shot became instantly iconic, shared widely across social media as “the heir to the helicopter”.

Fielding at backward point, Sarfaraz Khan launched himself horizontally at full stretch to pluck a searing square cut from Axar Patel out of the air with both hands. The ball was travelling at over 140 km/h off the bat. Sarfaraz covered nearly 15 metres in the blink of an eye, dived forward, and held on with fingertips grazing the turf — a catch so clean and so audacious that even the Chepauk crowd, partisan to its core, rose in reluctant applause. The IPL’s official handle called it “A CATCH AND A HALF! 🫢” — a sentiment echoed across every social platform within minutes.