IPL history: When Ravichandran Ashwin conceded 23 runs in a Super Over
We saw one of the most nail-biting finishes in IPL history last night when Sunrisers Hyderabad played out a tie against Mumbai Indians. As Manish Pandey struck the last ball of the 2nd innings for a six, the entire Wankhede crowd erupted because they knew they were going to witness a Super Over.
The Super Over has been used as a tie-breaker in modern day cricket for a while now. In this method, each team gets a chance to bat for one over. The team which scores the higher amount of runs wins the match.
Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab have played the most number of Super Overs in IPL history (3 each). Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, have played only one Super Over in the league.
Apart from the IPL, CSK had even played a Super Over in the Champions League T20 back in 2010. It was a league encounter versus the Australian side, Victorian Bushrangers.
The Super Kings had batted first and posted 162 on the board in their 20 overs. The Bushrangers also ended their innings on 162, thanks to David Hussey's half-century and Suresh Raina's miraculous last over.
As the match headed into a Super Over, Chennai gave the ball to Ravichandran Ashwin, who had figures of 1/34 in the second innings. Aaron Finch and David Hussey came out to bat for Victoria.
Finch took a single off the first ball and gave Hussey the strike. Hussey then smacked a six over long-on. The batsmen then took two doubles and the team's total swelled to 11 runs off 4 balls.
Hussey then did the unthinkable and hit 2 sixes off the 2 final deliveries to take Victoria Bushrangers' Super Over total to 23/0.
Chennai Super Kings batsmen Suresh Raina and Murali Vijay could only score 13 runs off Clint McKay's 6 balls as they lost the match by 10 runs.
Till date, Victoria's 23/0 remains the highest score in a Super Over in league cricket history.
As far as international cricket is concerned, the highest team aggregate in a Super Over is 25/1 recorded by West Indies in the first ever Super Over of cricket history, against New Zealand. 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle scored all the 25 runs that night against Daniel Vettori.
Ashwin has never bowled a Super Over after leaking 23 runs in that Champions League T20 match. The off-spinner will be in action tonight leading the Kings XI Punjab as they try to fight for a playoff spot in IPL 2019, against the Kolkata Knight Riders.