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Indian Premier League 2020

IPL super overs: The games that went right down to the wire

IPL Super Overs
by Sankalp Srivastava 5-minute read

Already in IPL 2020, we’ve had 35.7 per cent of all the super overs in Indian Premier League history, when the clashes between KXIP and DC, RCB and MI, KKR and SRH, and MI and KXIP went down to the wire. We look at the rest of the matches that needed an extra two overs to decide a winner.

In all, the IPL has had 14 super overs in its 12-year history, with two of them coming in the same match! Within the first 10 matches of IPL 2020, there were two of them and the count is now up to five with KXIP v MI featuring two super overs. That makes this season a particularly competitive one. For perspective, in the first five seasons of the IPL, all of two matches went to the super over.

Then, in 2013, the super over count doubled. Since then, nine matches have gone down to the wire, with there being one super over each in 2014, 2015 and 2017 and two in 2019.

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Given how competitive the league is, there can be more before the finale on November 10.

1. Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2009

Rajasthan Royals, defending champions at the time, posted a seemingly straightforward 150 after batting first, and Kolkata Knight Riders were comfortably inching towards the target when it all went wrong in the 19th over. It came down to RR needing seven runs off the last over, but Kamran Khan took two wickets and conceding just six to force the super over. Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle added 15 thereafter, but Yusuf Pathan single-handedly slammed 16 in four deliveries to win RR a thriller.

2. Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2010

Chennai Super Kings needed 28 off 30 and then 20 off 18 to overhaul’s KXIP’s 136, with six wickets in hand. But they lost a wicket in each of the last three overs, scraping 19 runs en route to ensure the match went into a super over. Rusty Theron, who returned 2-17 in his four overs, kept CSK down to nine runs. KXIP needed just two scoring shots to win the match – a six from Mahela Jayawardene and a four from Yuvraj Singh. CSK still went on to be crowned champions that year.

3. Sunrisers Hyderabad v Royal Challengers Bangalore, IPL 2013

Sunrisers Hyderabad were never quite comfortable in their chase of RCB’s 130. But they went into the final over as favourites, with only seven runs needed for victory. Vinay Kumar conceded did brilliantly to concede just six, and push the game to a super over. However, he went on to concede a huge 20 in the super over, and RCB fell short as Gayle and Virat Kohli managed just 15 in their hit.

4. Royal Challengers Bangalore v Delhi Daredevils, IPL 2013

RCB faltered in the latter half of a straightforward chase. They were 129-2 and needing a regulation 24 off 25, with both de Villiers and Kohli in the middle. However, the Daredevils somehow rallied, and RCB could only tie the scores after 20 overs. RCB, batting first in the super over, then slammed 15 runs, and Delhi, who lost Warner on their first delivery, could only get 11.

5. Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2014

KKR needed 16 off of the last two overs of their chase, but James Faulkner, the Australian paceman, decisively effected the outcome by taking three wickets in the penultimate over to necessitate a super over. Faulkner brilliantly followed it up with two more wickets in the super over, restricting KKR to 11 runs. In response, Steve Smith, aware of the rules, gently pushed for a double on the last ball to tie the super over, and  RR won the match thanks to their higher boundary count.

6. Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2015

In a fine example of the IPL’s swinging fortunes, Faulkner went from hero to villain. KXIP needed five off their last delivery, but Faulkner conceded a four as Axar Patel managed to tie the scores. KXIP then scored 15 runs in the super over, and in reply, RR lost both their wickets for six runs – Shane Watson was bowled by Mitchell Johnson, and Faulkner was caught short of the crease.

7. Mumbai Indians v Gujarat Lions, IPL 2017

MI looked set for a win against Gujarat Lions, needing 15 off their last two overs. The Pandya brothers, Hardik and Krunal, were batting together. But MI encountered a slide, losing five wickets in their last 12 balls, as GL fought back to force a super over. MI, batting first in the eliminator, then scored 11 runs, and handed things over to Jasprit Bumrah, who put forth a masterclass. He conceded just six runs to McCullum and Aaron Finch, four of which came off extras.

8. Delhi Capitals v Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2019

DC required just 18 runs in the last three overs with eight wickets in hand, and looked good for victory with young Prithvi Shaw batting on 96. However, Rishabh Pant’s dismissal in the 18th over sparked a collapse. Shaw followed suit in the next over, and with DC needing two runs off the last two deliveries, KKR somehow forced a super over. DC did well to dust off the disappointment when it matter, setting KKR a target of 10 in the super over, before Kagiso Rabada kept KKR to seven.

9. Mumbai Indians v Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2019

With SRH needing 41 from 18, MI were on the driver’s seat. Mohammad Nabi and Manish Pandey did remarkably to force a super over, with the latter hitting a six off the last ball to tie the scores. But Bumrah dominated yet another eliminator, conceding only eight runs and dismissing both the SRH batsmen. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya needed just three deliveries to score nine.

10. Delhi Capitals v Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2020

Punjab had this one in the pocket. Needing 13 off 6, they had slammed 12 from the first four deliveries. But Mayank Agarwal and Chris Jordan were both dismissed by Marcus Stoinis. Rabada was exceptional in the super over, conceding just two runs and removing both KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran within three deliveries. A wide, followed by two quick runs from Pant, were enough for DC to steal victory. To top it all, there was the controversy surrounding a poor umpiring decision, when it turned out an erroneous decision cost KXIP a run that would have meant a super over wouldn’t have been necessary at all.

11. Royal Challengers Bangalore v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2020

MI, at 78-4 in the 12th over, were way off the asking rate, chasing 202. But Kieron Pollard and Ishan Kishan added 119 runs in the next 51 deliveries, almost taking MI past the line. In the super over, Navdeep Saini allowed Mumbai just seven runs before de Villiers and Kohli spoiled Bumrah’s 100 per cent record in IPL super overs.

12. Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad, IPL 2020

Chasing 164 with a shuffled batting line-up, Sunrisers were given a sound start by Kane Williamson and Jonny Bairstow, but lost wickets in the middle period, just when they looked good to hunt down the total. David Warner, at No.4, remained unbeaten on a 33-ball 47, and managed to hit 17 off the last over, but the team still fell one short. In the super over, Lockie Ferguson took a couple of wickets, adding to his three-wicket haul in the game, and KKR needed just three runs to break their super over jinx.

13. Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2020

IPL witnessed two super overs of the same day, three actually, as the KXIP v MI game slipped into a super over and went further, with scores tied after the first round of six balls. The rules governed that players featuring in the first over couldn’t be repeated, so the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and KL Rahul were sidelined, but eventually Chris Gayle and Mayank Agarwal completed the job for Kings XI Punjab.

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