The 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League, a tournament that has always set the benchmark for the shortest format of the game, has once again raised the bar.

This year, we’ve witnessed some incredible performances, with shattered long-standing records and international and emerging players making their mark on Indian soil. The batters of the tournament have indeed embodied the spirit of IPL 2024. In this listicle, we’re taking a closer look at the top five extraordinary batting innings that have captivated the cricketing world in the 2024 edition. 

1. Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) vs Rajasthan Royals- 109 runs off 56 balls

Hailed as one of the toughest spinners, Sunil Narine, the Trinidadian spinmeister, has proved his impeccable calibre with the bat, thanks to the IPL platform for displaying his willow-handling skills. Though he started his stint as an opener during the 2017 Big Bash League, his long stint with the Kolkata Knight Riders helped him unleash batting prowess, and the clash against Rajasthan Royals summed it all up.

Against a robust Royals bowling attack on the vast Eden Gardens track, Narine pumped up his batting shots and got off to a flying start. With 13 boundaries and six sixes, he had hit his first-ever century across his batting timeline, with a commendable strike rate of 194.64. To add things up, this memorable batting innings made him the first player in the IPL to have scored a hundred and picked a five-wicket haul.

2. Jos Buttler (Rajasthan Royals) vs Kolkata Knight Riders- 107* runs off 60 balls

To give a small continuation to Sunil Narine’s memorable first century, it was in the same clash of the best; the fans witnessed another stupendous batting innings. After giving a target of 224 runs to the Rajasthan Royals, the away side was up for it amongst the vast grounds of the Eden Gardens. But he had got off slightly slow as he made only 25 off his first 18 balls.

But although struggling with the injury that kept him out of the last RR game and rapidly running out of batting partners, Buttler stayed the course. And taking the match to an enthralling last ball, Buttler’s innings of 107* runs off 60 balls, with nine fours and six sixes, he had taken his visitor’s side team to a victory by two wickets, which kind of overshadowed Narine’s commendable knock. 

3. Will Jacks (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) vs Gujarat Titans- 100* runs off 41 balls

With a quick-pace triple-digit mark and an awestruck reaction by King Kohli, Will Jacks’s century is a wholesome and flavourful batting innings. Starting things off with 17 runs in just 17 balls, in the successive 24 balls, the English batter hit the remaining runs to reach his first-ever IPL century.

Though he had come lately to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru batting campaign, he had proved to be an instrumental element to the team’s middle order batting, which led him to a memorable six-consecutive winning stint, which led them to seal the final playoffs spot, when they just had a mere 1% chance, symbolising the team’s resilient and robust mentality approach. 

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4. Travis Head (Sunrisers Hyderabad) vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru- 102 runs off 41 balls

In the clash between the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad on the small dimensions of Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru broke the long-held record of the highest team score ever in IPL, where Sunrisers Hyderabad took that title away from the previous holders of Bengaluru, thanks to the swashbuckling Aussie batter, Travis Head.

With already announcing his stint in the IPL from an excellent first-match performance, Head accelerated his performance and got him to this stage, where he proved to be handy in scoring the highest team total of IPL of 287/3 by making a century off just 39 balls. In his innings of 102 runs off 41 balls, he hit nine fours and eight sixes at a colossal strike rate of 248.78. 

5. Shashank Singh (Punjab Kings) vs Gujarat Titans- 61* runs off 29 balls 

In this listicle, we have seen all the centuries making the mark, but a few innings have created a long-lasting impact, but it didn’t require a triple-digit mark. One such innings is by the Punjab Kings’ middle-order batting powerhouse, Shashank Singh. It all started in last year’s IPL auction when the Kings bought him instead of another player with the same name, leading to a case of mistaken identity.

With several rumours goofed up, the franchise clarified it and mentioned that he was always on their planned list. As it implies, the batter from Chattisgarh paid back the trust and scored an impeccable innings of 61* runs off 29 balls in a 200-run chase against the Gujarat Titans. This innings is a testament to seizing any opportunity given to a person from different walks of life, which also bolstered the batter’s confidence and led him to be a valuable batting asset to the Punjab Kings.