Highest Run Chases in IPL History: Complete List (Updated 2026) Ft. Punjab Kings

The highest run chases in IPL history now belongs to Punjab Kings. On April 25, 2026, PBKS chased down 265 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, surpassing their own record of 262 set against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2024. Prabhsimran Singh’s blistering 76 off 26 balls and Shreyas Iyer’s unbeaten 71 off 36 powered PBKS to 265/4 in just 18.5 overs, completing the highest successful run chase in IPL and T20 cricket history.

Punjab Kings are now the only franchise to have chased down 260-plus twice in IPL history. Four of the top five highest successful run chases in the IPL have come since 2024, driven by the impact-player rule, flatter pitches, evolved batting techniques, and a wholesale psychological shift in how teams approach the second innings.

This article breaks down the top 10 highest successful run chases in IPL, the key performances behind each, and why big run chases in the IPL are becoming more common every season.

(updated on April 25, 2026 afterPBKS chase 265 vs Delhi Capitals

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Top 10 Highest Successful Run Chases in IPL History

Punjab Kings — 265/4 vs DC (IPL 2026) | Highest Run Chase in IPL

The highest run chase in IPL history — and the highest successful run chase in all of T20 cricket — took place at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on April 25, 2026. KL Rahul’s extraordinary unbeaten 152 off 67 balls, the third-highest individual score in IPL history and the highest by an Indian batter, powered Delhi Capitals to 264/2. Nitish Rana contributed 91 off 44 balls, and the pair put together a record 220-run partnership for DC — the highest for any wicket in the franchise’s history.

Chasing 265 on a scorching 41-degree afternoon, Punjab Kings came out swinging from ball one. Priyansh Arya smashed a first-ball six off Impact Sub Auqib Nabi and PBKS raced to 36/0 after just two overs. The powerplay produced 116 runs — the second-highest powerplay score in IPL history. Prabhsimran Singh was the chief destroyer, hammering 76 off just 26 balls at a strike rate of 292.30, while Arya blitzed 43 off 17 balls with five sixes.

The match took a sombre turn when DC pacer Lungi Ngidi suffered a nasty head injury while attempting a catch, and was stretchered off to hospital. Vipraj Nigam came on as the concussion substitute.

DC clawed back with three quick wickets — Arya holed out to deep midwicket, Kuldeep Yadav trapped Prabhsimran lbw, and then bowled Cooper Connolly with a wrong’un. But captain Shreyas Iyer, dropped twice by Karun Nair, anchored the middle overs with an unbeaten 71 off 36 balls. Impact Sub Nehal Wadhera (25 off 15) and Shashank Singh (19 off 10) provided the finishing blows.

PBKS completed the chase in 18.5 overs with six wickets in hand, maintaining a run rate of 14.07 throughout their innings.

Key stat: PBKS scored 116 in the powerplay — the second-highest powerplay total in IPL history — and never let the required rate climb above 12 at any point after the sixth over.

Punjab Kings — 262/2 vs KKR (IPL 2024) | Highest Run Chase in IPL

The highest run chase in IPL history — and the highest successful run chase in all of T20 cricket — took place at Eden Gardens on April 26, 2024. KKR batted first and posted 261/6, with Phil Salt and Sunil Narine putting on 138 runs for the opening wicket in a devastating powerplay blitz.

Chasing 262, Punjab Kings never flinched. Prabhsimran Singh hammered a 20-ball fifty to set the tone early, and PBKS racked up 93 runs in the powerplay itself. Jonny Bairstow then took over with an unbeaten 108 off 48 balls (eight fours, nine sixes), while Shashank Singh smashed 68 off just 28 deliveries at a strike rate of 242.85.

PBKS reached the target in 18.4 overs with eight wickets in hand. The match produced a record 42 sixes — the most in any T20 game ever played. It remains the only instance of a team chasing down 250 or more in IPL history.

Key stat: PBKS maintained a run rate of 14.03 per over throughout their innings — a figure that would have been considered absurd even two seasons earlier.

Sunrisers Hyderabad — 247/2 vs PBKS (IPL 2025)

The second-highest run chase in the IPL came on April 12, 2025, when SRH overhauled PBKS’s 245/6 at home in Hyderabad. Shreyas Iyer’s 82 off 36 balls had anchored the Punjab innings, but what followed from SRH’s openers was extraordinary.

Abhishek Sharma played the defining innings of IPL 2025 — 141 off 55 balls, featuring 14 fours and 10 sixes. It was the highest individual score by an Indian batter in IPL history. Travis Head contributed 66 off 37 balls at the other end, and together the pair put on 171 runs for the first wicket before Head fell.

SRH crossed the line in 18.3 overs, losing only two wickets, to script one of the highest run chases in IPL. The run rate of 13.35 per over was sustained through calculated aggression rather than slogging, with Abhishek targeting bowlers at both ends with equal ferocity.

Key stat: SRH lost just two wickets while chasing 246, the fewest wickets lost in any 240-plus chase in T20 history.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru — 230/4 vs LSG (IPL 2025)

This chase from May 27, 2025, carried enormous stakes — RCB needed to win to finish in the top two on the IPL 2025 points table. LSG had posted 227/3, powered by Rishabh Pant’s 118 off 61 balls.

RCB wobbled early, losing three wickets inside the 100-run mark. But stand-in captain Jitesh Sharma produced an astonishing counter-attack — an unbeaten 85 off just 33 deliveries — to drag RCB home in 18.4 overs. Virat Kohli’s 54 off 30 balls at the top had provided the initial platform.

The chase was notable for its two-phase structure: measured accumulation through the powerplay, followed by all-out assault in the middle and death overs. It remains RCB’s highest successful run chase in IPL history.

Key stat: Jitesh Sharma struck at 257.57 during his match-winning knock — the highest strike rate in any innings of 80-plus in a 220-plus chase.

Rajasthan Royals — 226/6 vs PBKS (IPL 2020)

This match at Sharjah on September 27, 2020, produced one of the most iconic moments in IPL history. PBKS posted 223/2, with KL Rahul (69) and Mayank Agarwal (106) putting on 183 for the first wicket.

Rajasthan Royals were 140/2 after 15 overs and needed 84 off the last five. Sanju Samson’s 85 off 42 balls had kept them in the hunt, but the chase looked over when Rahul Tewatia struggled to connect in his first few balls at the crease.

Then came the over that changed everything. Tewatia smashed five sixes in a single over off Sheldon Cottrell in the 18th, completely swinging the momentum. RR finished the chase in 19.3 overs, winning by four wickets. The Tewatia over remains one of the most replayed moments in IPL broadcasting history.

Key stat: RR scored 86 runs in the last five overs to pull off the chase — the highest death-overs total in any successful 220-plus run chase in IPL.

Rajasthan Royals — 224/8 vs KKR (IPL 2024)

Eden Gardens, April 16, 2024 — just ten days before PBKS would break this record at the same ground. Sunil Narine scored his maiden T20 century (109 off 56 balls) to lead KKR to 223/6, but Jos Buttler had other plans.

Buttler anchored the entire chase with an unbeaten 107 off 60 balls. Wickets fell around him consistently — RR were 121/6 in the 13th over at one stage — but Buttler kept finding the boundary. With 46 needed off the last three overs and the tail exposed, he retained the strike through intelligent running and timely sixes.

RR won off the last ball. It was a masterclass in single-handed chase management under extreme pressure.

Key stat: RR lost eight wickets in the chase, the most by any team in a successful 220-plus run chase in IPL.

Mumbai Indians — 219/6 vs CSK (IPL 2021)

Kieron Pollard’s 87 not out off just 34 balls remains one of the great IPL finishing innings. CSK had posted 218/4, with Faf du Plessis (50), Moeen Ali (58), and Ambati Rayudu all contributing half-centuries.

MI looked out of the game for most of the chase before Pollard arrived. He hit eight sixes, targeting length bowling in the arc between mid-wicket and long-on, and MI won off the final delivery of the match in Delhi on May 1, 2021.

Key stat: Pollard struck at 255.88, scoring 87 of MI’s last 109 runs in the chase.

Rajasthan Royals — 217/7 vs Deccan Chargers (IPL 2008)

The original 200-plus chase. In just the ninth match of the first-ever IPL season (April 24, 2008), the Rajasthan Royals chased down 215 in Hyderabad. Andrew Symonds’ unbeaten 117 off 53 balls had powered the Chargers to 214/5.

Yusuf Pathan announced himself on the global stage with 61 off 28 balls (four fours, six sixes), adding 98 for the second wicket with Graeme Smith (71). RR completed the chase in 19.5 overs, winning with one ball to spare.

This was the template — the first proof that 200-plus totals were chaseable in T20 cricket. The record stood for 12 years until RR themselves surpassed it in 2020.

Key stat: This record of 215 stood as the highest successful run chase in IPL for 12 consecutive seasons (2008–2019).

Sunrisers Hyderabad — 215/5 vs RR (IPL 2023)

On May 7, 2023, SRH chased down RR’s 214/2 off the final delivery in Jaipur. Jos Buttler (95 off 59) and Sanju Samson (66 off 38) had set a formidable target for the Royals.

SRH calculated their run chase perfectly, with contributions spread across the batting order. The chase went down to the wire, and SRH reached the target on the last ball of the innings.

Mumbai Indians — 215/4 vs PBKS (IPL 2023)

MI chased down 215 in just 18.5 overs at Mohali on May 3, 2023 — finishing the chase with seven balls to spare. The efficiency of this run chase, losing only four wickets while maintaining a required rate above 10.75 throughout, made it one of the cleanest big chases in IPL history.

Sunrisers Hyderabad — 215/6 vs PBKS (IPL 2024)

SRH’s third entry on this list. On May 19, 2024, they chased down 215 against PBKS in Hyderabad. Abhishek Sharma (66 off 28 balls) once again drove the chase after SRH lost Travis Head on the first delivery. Abhishek won the Player of the Match award, and SRH completed the chase in 19.1 overs.

Which Teams Dominate the Biggest Run Chases in IPL?

Three franchises stand out across the top 10 list of highest successful run chases in the IPL:

Sunrisers Hyderabad appear three times — all since 2023. SRH’s evolution into the IPL’s most dangerous batting unit has been built around the Abhishek Sharma–Travis Head opening combination and Heinrich Klaasen’s finishing power. Since 2024, SRH have scored 200-plus in 11 of their 30 matches.

Rajasthan Royals also feature three times, spanning from the very first season in 2008 to 2024. RR pioneered the art of the big chase and remain the franchise most associated with dramatic run-downs.

Punjab Kings hold the all-time record (262 vs KKR) but also appear on the receiving end of several other chases on this list — a reflection of the high-scoring matches their batting lineup tends to produce.

Mumbai Indians feature twice, both involving last-ball finishes — a testament to the franchise’s ability to remain calm in high-pressure death-overs situations.

Why Are IPL Run Chases Getting Bigger Every Year?

The acceleration in successful high-target chases since 2024 is not a coincidence. Several structural and tactical factors are at play:

The Impact Player Rule allows teams to substitute an extra specialist batter into the lineup, giving chasing teams more depth and reducing the risk of tail-end collapses during big chases.

Flatter pitches and smaller boundaries at certain venues — particularly Chinnaswamy, Wankhede, and Hyderabad — have tilted the balance decisively in favour of batters.

Evolved powerplay batting means chasing teams now routinely score 60-plus in the first six overs, keeping required rates manageable even against 220-plus targets.

Psychological shift is perhaps the biggest factor. Teams no longer see 200-plus targets as daunting. The 2024 and 2025 seasons proved that no total is safe, and that aggressive intent from ball one is the most effective chasing strategy.

Highest Run Chase in T20 History

Punjab Kings don’t just own the IPL record — they own the all-time T20 record too. PBKS’s 265/4 against DC on April 25, 2026, is the highest successful run chase in the history of T20 cricket across all formats and all leagues worldwide. Their previous chase of 262 against KKR in 2024 held the record for two years before PBKS topped it themselves.

What stands out from the all-time T20 list is how the IPL dominates the upper end. The top two entries are both from the IPL, and three of the top six belong to IPL franchises. The Big Bash League, PSL, CPL, and international T20s all feature in the broader list, but no league has produced the volume of 240-plus chases that the IPL has since 2024.

The list also highlights how T20 cricket as a whole has shifted. South Africa’s 259/4 against West Indies in Centurion (2023) was the highest chase in international T20s. The Brisbane Heat’s 258/2 against the Perth Scorchers in BBL 2025 showed that domestic Australian cricket has caught up. But the IPL remains the frontier where the ceiling keeps getting pushed — largely because the combination of global talent, flat pitches, impact player depth, and franchise-level tactical planning creates conditions no other league can replicate.

Top 10 Highest Successful Run Chases in T20 Cricket History

A few things jump out from this list. The IPL accounts for six of the top 15 highest run chases in T20 history. The PSL has two entries (Multan Sultans and Quetta Gladiators, both from 2023 in Rawalpindi — a notoriously flat venue). Bulgaria’s two appearances are eyebrow-raising but come from Associate-level T20Is with lower bowling quality. And the CPL and MLC each have one entry apiece.

The trend line is clear: across formats and leagues, 240-plus is the new frontier for T20 chases, and Punjab Kings are leading the charge.

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