IPL 2017: Top 5 last ball finishes
The Indian Premier league, or any T20 tournament for that matter, is lit up with nail-biting humdinger finishes. The nature of the competition does not allow any team to be ruled out of the game until the last ball is bowled. Last ball finishes are one of the most exciting aspects of the IPL as well, especially after a tied game which leads to a Super Over.
With the historic tenth edition of the cash-rich league around the corner, let’s take a look at the most thrilling moments from the previous editions. Although the tournament has witnessed too many down-to-the-wire games to pick the few best, here are the top 5 last ball finish games which will be etched in the chronicles of IPL.
#5 Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders – 2009
The Kolkata Knight Riders were always at the receiving end in the initial few years of the IPL. But in this memorable match that was played in Centurion in 2009, the SRK-owned franchise reversed the tide. Assisted by catchy half centuries from Brad Hodge and Brendon McCullum, KKR pulled off one of the most exciting chases in the competition.
The thrill began when chasing 189, the Knights required 25 runs from 12 balls. In the penultimate over, when most considered KKR a weak side for CSK, the Kolkata batsmen clobbered Laxmipathy Balaji for 19 runs.
Hodge hit him for two sixes and in the last ball; the now team India wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha dispatched the Chennai quick over the mid-wicket boundary.
Now came the last over, from which KKR needed only six runs. Captain Dhoni gave the ball to Suresh Raina, who leaked two runs from his first three balls. The fourth ball created a scare, in which Hodge narrowly survived a run-out. Saha took two runs on the fifth ball and with one needed from the last ball, the Bengal-wicketkeeper hit a boundary to record a memorable win for KKR.