Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata is one of the premium and high-profile cricketing venues in India. The ground had also remained the stadium with the highest seating capacity among all the cricket stadiums in India. The venue has witnessed a lot of thrilling and exciting matches in the shortest format of cricket, T20 cricket including both international games and the Indian Premier League 2023.
Speaking specifically of the Indian Premier League, the venue has hosted a lot of thriller matches in the history of the tournament since its inception 15 years back in the year 2008. Meanwhile, there had also been a couple of high-scoring affairs played at this venue between some big teams in the tournament.
Having said that, here we’ll have a look at the three highest successful chases at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the 16-season history of the Indian Premier League.
1. Kolkata Knight Riders vs Punjab Kings – Target: 201
The hosts KKR were locking horns with Punjab Kings in the 34th match of the Indian Premier League 2010 at the Eden Gardens Stadium. The hosts’ skipper Sourav Ganguly won the toss and decided to bat first. Riding on Chris Gayle’s amazing knock of 88 runs off just 42 balls with six boundaries and eight sixes to his name, the Knight Riders posted a big total of 200 runs for the loss of three wickets in the allotted overs.
Later on, while chasing the target, the veteran Punjab Kings batter Mahela Jayawardene smashed a swashbuckling century of 110 runs off just 59 balls with 14 boundaries and three sixes on his credit. On the back of his knocks, the visitors comfortably chased down the target of 201 runs by scoring 204 runs for the loss of two wickets in 18.2 overs with 10 balls to spare. It is still the highest successful run chase at the Eden Gardens in the history of IPL.
2. Rajasthan Royals vs Gujarat Titans – Target: 189
The new entrants of last year’s edition of the Indian Premier League, Gujarat Titans were taking on Rajasthan Royals in the first qualifier of the IPL 2022 at the Eden Gardens. On being asked to bat first, Rajasthan Royals posted a total of 188 runs for the loss of six wickets in the first 20 overs of the game. The senior opener Jos Buttler played an amazing knock of 89 runs off just 56 balls with 12 boundaries and two sixes to his name.
While chasing the target, Gujarat Titans chased down the total in 19.3 overs by scoring 191 runs for the loss of three wickets. The veteran Southpaw David Miller played an unbeaten knock of 68 runs off 38 balls to cross the finishing line for Titans and took them straight to the final of the tournament. This run-chase is the second-highest successful run chase at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
3. Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians – Target: 188
The hosts Kolkata Knight Riders were taking on the multi-time champions Mumbai Indians in the fifth match of the Indian Premier League 2016. The Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked KKR to bat first. Batting first, Gautam Gambhir’s man posted a good total of 187 runs for the loss of five wickets in the allotted 20 overs.
Skipper Gambhir himself played a crucial knock of 64 runs with four boundaries and a six followed by Manish Pandey’s 52 runs off just 29 balls. Later on, in the second innings, skipper Rohit Sharma played a blistering unbeaten knock of 84 runs off just 54 balls with 10 boundaries and two sixes. The visitors’ chased down the target in 19.1 overs by scoring 188 runs for the loss of four wickets in 19.1 overs to win the match by six wickets.