Country has witnessed many jittery finishes in IPL; let’s have a detailed look on the top 5 Super Over finishes in IPL history. The concept of Super Over was first introduced in 2008 in T20 cricket ruling out the bowl-out method of tie-breaking. When both the teams playing finish off with the same number of runs which happens seldom, Super Over determines the winner amongst them. Super Over is the most exciting part of the T20 game audience witnesses. The thrill of looking at the best bowler of the team bowling an over against two best batsmen from the opponent is evident in the eyes of viewers.
Here are the best 5 Super Over finishes in the history of IPL.
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2009
This was the first Super Over in the history of IPL and the best one as well. An awesome spell of 42 runs in 21 balls by Yusuf Pathan helped Rajasthan Royals (RR) put a score of 150 runs on the Board. Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had rolled their sleeves up to knock this score. Sourav Ganguly hit a majestic 46 runs and KKR were 2 runs of victory and it was then Kamran Khan took his wicket in the last over ruling out KKR’s victory in the match.
The Super over witnessed KKR’s Chris Gayle hit 3 fours and put 15 runs on board for KKR after which skipper Brendon McCullum entrusted Ajantha Mendis to defend after he gave only 19 runs of his 4 overs. However, he failed to bring victory to KKR as Yusuf Pathan hit 2 sixes and a four which helped Rajasthan Royal to conquer the match.
Chennai Super Kings Vs Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2010
It was thought to be a cakewalk win for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) when they had to score 33 runs from 37 balls with seven wickets in hand. The game was ruined to mess by CSK when they required 13 runs of two overs and Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) bowler Theron bowled a three-run over and picked a wicket. Now CSK needed to score 10 runs of the last over and R Ashwin scored 9 runs and played a dot ball and lost his wicket on the last ball to Irfan Pathan. CSK team seemed unprepared for the Super Over and only managed to put 9 runs on board off the six balls. It was then Mahela Jayawardene hit a six to Muralitharan but lost his wicket on the second ball. Yuvraj Singh missed his first ball but hit a four in the next to bring their first victory in the season.
Sunrsers Hyderabad Vs Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2013
Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) batsmen Virat Kohli and Moises Henrigues put a decent score of 130 runs for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) to chase. SRH struggled too while chasing this score and it was Hanuma Vihari which pushed SRH towards the win. RCB’s Vinay Kumar managed to defend 7 runs of last over but gave away only six which led to tie.
SRH’s Cameron White struck 2 sixes off Vinay Kumar in the Super Over and managed to bring 20 runs for SRH. Dale Steyn from SRH had the responsibility of defending 20 runs from RCB’s Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli. The duo only managed to get 15 runs of 6 balls and SRH won the match.
Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2014
This was the second time KKR and RR had faced each other in Super Over. Rajasthan Royals had batted first and it was Ajinkya Rahane’s spell of 72 runs which powered them to competitive score of 152 runs. KKR stumbled throughout the chase only when Shakib Al Hasan’s knock of 29* in 18 balls helped KKR to reach to the last over. Kane Richardson defended the last 12 runs of victory and took the match to Super Over.
In the Super Over, KKR scored 11 runs and lost both their wickets. Sunil Narine gave away just 8 runs of 5 balls with 3 runs to win from last ball, Steve Smith used his levelheadedness and pushed the ball towards extra cover and completed 2 runs to tie the Super over. Though the Super Over was a tie Rajasthan Royals won the match based on their higher boundary count than KKR and Smith was aware of this and used that to their advantage.
Rajasthan Royals Vs Kings XI Punjab in IPL 2015
Rajasthan Royals had registered a whooping 191 runs of their 20 overs spell, thanks to Ajinkya Rahane who scored 74 in 54 balls followed by 45 runs contribution from Shane Warne. The score looked impossible for KXIP to chase when Glen Maxwell lost his wicket on 9th over with only 59 runs on board. It was only when Shaun Marsh and David Miller scored fifties and contributed to chase with only 14 runs to win from the last over. It was five needed off the last ball when Akshar Patel hit a four and ensured a Super Over.
KXIP lost their first wicket David Miller in the first ball of Super Over to Chris Morris. However, Shaun Marsh managed to get 15 runs in Punjab’s pocket. Mitchell Johnson took vengeance by sending Shane Watson back to pavilion in the very first ball. KXIP victory was ensured when RR had 10 runs to score from 4 balls and Faulkner was run out by Wriddhiman Saha leading KXIP to win the match.
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