Against Australia at Pallekele, Pathum Nissanka played one of the greatest innings in Men’s T20 World Cup history.
The rankings are the personal sequence of the author.
10. Alex Hales 116* (58) vs Sri Lanka, Chattogram 2014
A chase of 190, always steep against Sri Lanka in the subcontinent, seemed near-impossible when Nuwan Kulasekara struck twice in the first over, but Hales responded with four fours in the first two overs, and assumed control of the chase once the powerplay was over. With 73 to score in six overs, Hales took 25 off one over from Ajantha Mendis to turn the match in England’s favour: they completed a comfortable chase despite Kulasekara’s second double-strike. England’s first ever T20I hundred was a rare bright spot in a winter of gloom.
9. Chris Gayle 117 (57) vs South Africa, Johannesburg 2007
Gayle was an excellent opener in both Tests and ODIs, but his ascent towards Universe Boss-hood began with the first ever T20I hundred, scored in the first ever T20 World Cup match. At a time when teams were still figuring out when to accelerate in the format, Gayle smashed ten sixes in a monstrous hundred that would become his trademark over the years. The match might have ended in a defeat for West Indies, but that 117 set the tone for the format. To date, it has been surpassed only once in the history of the tournament.
8. Stephan Myburgh 63 (23) vs Ireland, Sylhet 2014
It has been more than a decade, but Myburgh’s mad dash to propel Ireland to the Super 10s still seems improbable. The Dutch needed 190 in 20 overs – but to qualify, they needed to get them in a mere 14.2. Myburgh cut loose with three consecutive sixes in the second over, off Andy McBrine, and three more in the fourth, off Alex Cusack. By the time the powerplay ended, the Netherlands had raced to 90-1. Myburgh had set the tone for one of cricket’s greatest chases – 190 in 83 balls.
7. Glenn Phillips 104 (64) vs Sri Lanka, Sydney 2022
Phillips’ incredible show came in a match where only five players (out of 20) reached double figures, and he was the only one to go past 35. In fact, Sri Lanka were eventually bowled out for two runs fewer than his score. That New Zealand, 15-3 in the powerplay, reached 167-7 in trying conditions was solely due to Phillips’ skilful power-hitting. When he could not pierce the field, he simply muscled the ball over the ropes.
6. Pathum Nissanka 100* (52) vs Australia, Pallekele 2026
The innings could have ranked higher, but for Australia’s depleted attack. Nissanka had already atoned for his drop of Glenn Maxwell by taking a spectacular catch to dismiss the same man. Chasing 182, he then came out and played a brilliantly paced innings to convert an uphill task into a relatively easy one. He saved his best for Nathan Ellis. When Ellis bowled short on the leg-stump, Nissanka moved further away to clear the point boundary. Ellis responded by a wide ball and then by pitching it up, but Nissanka swept the ball over the fine-leg fence.
5. Rohit Sharma 92 (41) vs Australia, Gros Islet 2024
Australia struck twice inside eight overs that day. The two India batters dismissed had a mere 15 off 19 balls between them. Yet, India had little to worry about, for Rohit had virtually single-handedly lifted them to 93 by then. He had begun the carnage with four sixes and a four in the third over, bowled by Mitchell Starc, and continued to pummel Australia’s famed limited-overs quartet, all of whom had featured on that fateful night of November 19. By the time he fell after an astonishing exhibition of strokes, those ghosts had been exorcised.
4. Virat Kohli 82* (53) vs Pakistan, Melbourne 2022
The most talked-about innings in the history of the T20 World Cup is also the highest-ranked from a league game on this list. Chasing 160, India fell to 31-4 before Kohli, aided by Hardik Pandya, brought the target down to 48 in three overs and then 32 in two. The famous two-six sequence came at the end the 19th over, off Haris Rauf. Then, at the other end of a mad, mad last over (two wickets, a six off a no-ball, a dead ball that hit the stumps and the batters ran three, a wide left alone), India eventually defeated Pakistan.
3. Yuvraj Singh 70 (30) vs Australia, Durban 2007
Would T20 have been as big if India lost that semi-final? Despite their stumble against Zimbabwe, Australia – three-time running champion of the ODI World Cup – were still hot favourites to win the inaugural edition. Yuvraj arrived after a cautious India had reached only 41-2 in eight overs. Six overs later, they were 113-2 – and Yuvraj had got 55 of those runs. By the time he fell, India had dared to end Australia’s run at a global tournament. It was not Yuvraj’s most-viewed innings of that World Cup on YouTube, but it was certainly the more defining of his two blitzes.
2. Michael Hussey 60* (24) vs Pakistan, Gros Islet 2010
The greatest heist of them all? Even after a six off Saeed Ajmal in the 18th over and two fours and four twos off Mohammad Amir in the 19th, Australia still needed another 18 off Ajmal’s last over. Back in 2010s, these still used to be rare (it would be another six years until Ian Bishop would ask everyone to remember Carlos Brathwaite’s name). Mitchell Johnson duly gave Hussey the strike, who pulled the next ball, and went down on his knee to dismiss the one after that over long on for two sixes. He then square-cut for four to level the scores, and hit another six over long on to complete an incredible finish.
1. Marlon Samuels 78 (56) vs Sri Lanka, Premadasa 2012
Before Kolkata, Samuels had Colombo – against the tournament hosts. On a typical Premadasa surface where run-scoring was difficult, the West Indies crawled to 38-2 in 11 overs in a World Cup final. They had not hit a single boundary until that point, and defeat seemed imminent. The first six came from Dwayne Bravo, but it was Samuels who broke the shackles with three sixes off Lasith Malinga in the 13th over. As one power-hitter came and went, Samuels stayed put when none of his teammates reached 30.
Sri Lanka, unable to get going against a cohort of medium-pacers and spinners, then crashed to 101 all out. At the forefront, with 1-15 in four overs, was ... Samuels.
