IPL 2018: Top 3 closest Super Overs
What makes the IPL so interesting is the way in which it is hard to predict what will happen. Franchises are often evenly balanced, making every game played close and exciting viewing. Sometimes, the games are so close that it ends in a tie, requiring a fan-favourite Super Over to decide the winner.
Super Overs epitomise everything that the IPL stands for: batsmen looking to hit every ball for six and bowlers having to keep their nerve under tense conditions. The first IPL Super Over was in 2009, between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Rajasthan Royals (won by the latter), in the year when the tournament was held in South Africa. Since then, there have been 6 more occurrences of Super Overs in the IPL.
This article looks at the three closest of them.
#3 Chennai Super Kings vs Kings XI Punjab - 2010
The low scoring games can be as exciting as the high scoring ones, as the Chennai crowd found out in the 16th Match of the 2010 IPL. After winning the toss, the Kings XI Punjab were put in to bat against a very strong Chennai Super Kings side and got off to a terrible start. With just 64 runs on the board after ten overs, and being four wickets down, Punjab were in a dire position. However, a spirited 43 (28) from Yuvraj Singh took KXIP to the semi-respectable total of 136/8.
The Chennai Super Kings started strong, with a quick 65 run opening partnership between Parthiv Patel and Matthew Hayden. At 97-2 inside 13 overs, CSK were all but set to win the contest. Yet, they collapsed drastically and struggled at the back end of their innings. It came down Ravichandran Ashwin needing to score 1 run off two balls against Irfan Pathan, but the bowler held his nerve. A dot ball followed by a wicket finished their innings and it led to a Super Over.
Chennai batted first in the Super Over, sending out Albie Morkel and Matthew Hayden. Rusty Theron took the ball for Punjab and he started well. After conceding a single first ball, Theron bowled Hayden to give Punjab the advantage. Raina then came him and hit a two, but then launched Theron into the stands - taking Chennai to 9 runs in four balls. They were set to get a large total, but Raina then top-edged Theron and was caught by Jayawardene to set Punjab a total of 10 to win.
When Punjab batted, they opted for Mahela Jayawardene and Yuvraj Singh to bat, while CSK gave the ball to Muttiah Muralitharan. Mahela hit the first ball for six then holed out the following delivery. A swing and a miss from Yuvi raised tensions drastically, but he then emphatically reversed swept Murali for four to hand Punjab a very close win.