IPL 2018: Overs that changed the course of the game

The 11th season of the IPL is coming to a close and there have been some excellent performances throughout the season. A lot of players have been extremely consistent and have performed exceptionally well. Also, a lot of youngsters have stepped up and shown what they are capable of.

There have also been quite some instances where the game has turned around due to just one over. T20 is such a format that sometimes an individual brilliance is enough for a team to win the game.

Also, the game changes rapidly. In fact, a match can turn on its head in the space of a few deliveries. Hence, here we look back at some of the most crucial overs which changed the game on its head and shifted the balance.

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#5 Umesh Yadav’s two-wicket burst against KXIP (May 14)

Umesh Yadav was the standout bowler for the Royal Challengers Bangalore this season. He was absolutely brilliant in the powerplay where he ran in and bowled fast, rushing the batsmen. He was RCB’s go-to bowler in the powerplay as inevitably, he gave them wickets upfront.

In a must-win game against KXIP, Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to field first. KL Rahul and Chris Gayle started slowly as they got just 7 runs in the first two overs. However, they slowly started shifting the pressure as they found the boundaries with ease in the next couple of overs. However, Umesh Yadav halted their charge as he picked up both openers in the space of 4 deliveries.

He bounced out both Rahul and Gayle in the 5th over as he had both of them caught at deep square-leg. With KXIP a touch over-reliant on the openers, they crumbled to 88 all out after those two breakthroughs.

This gave RCB back-to-back wins, something they hadn’t managed to do since 2016.

#4 Shreyas Gopal’s rattles RCB’s playoffs chances with two wickets in one over (May 19)

Shreyas Gopal's four-over spell derailed RCB's chase.

It was a virtual knockout game. Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were doing well at the fag end of the season and both of them had a chance to qualify for the playoffs going into the final weekend of the league phase.

Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. The home side put up a very good batting performance as they racked up 164 on what looked like a tricky surface. RCB lost their skipper Virat Kohli early in the chase as Krishnappa Gowtham castled him. But despite that dismissal, RCB were going very well. Parthiv Patel and AB de Villiers combined really well and took them to 74/1 in 8 overs. But then came the twist.

Bowling his second over of the game, Shreyas Gopal nipped out Parthiv Patel and Moeen Ali in the same over to turn the game decisively in RR’s favour. He first had Parthiv stumped as he dragged his back foot out of the crease while going for the cut shot and Buttler dislodged the bails.

But then Moeen Ali, who was the star for RCB in the previous game (against SRH), was out caught and bowled as he failed to read the googly.

74/1 suddenly became 77/3 as RCB then continued to lose wickets and despite AB de Villiers’ half-century, they couldn’t get over the line. To hit the final nail in the coffin, Gopal dismissed ABD as well, a few overs later.

#3 Dwayne Bravo goes berserk as he hits 20 in back-to-back overs in the opening game of the season against MI (April 7)

Dwayne Bravo helped CSK pull off an unbelievable victory.

Chennai Super Kings were officially back in the IPL as they faced arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in the first game of the season. After the CSK bowlers had done well to keep MI down to 165, their top six batsmen failed to get going as none of them went past the 25-run mark.

With the last three overs to go, Dwayne Bravo was still out in the middle with CSK still 47 runs away from victory. Also, they had lost 8 wickets and plus, Kedar Jadhav was injured and it was uncertain whether he would be able to bat. Hence, CSK looked down and out.

Mitchell McClenaghan bowled the 18th over and Bravo hit the Kiwi pacer for a couple of sixes and a four as he fetched 20 runs off that over. But 27 were still required off the remaining two overs and Jasprit Bumrah, one of the best death bowlers in the world at the moment, was to bowl the 19th. However, Bravo backed himself and cleared the fence three times and plundered 20 runs in this over as well before falling on the final delivery.

Those 40 runs in two overs set up the game as Kedar Jadhav walked out after the dismissal of the West Indian all-rounder and finished the game.

#2 SRH hitting 24 runs in the final over might have cost KKR the game in the second Qualifier (May 25)

Rashid Khan was spectacular in this knockout game.

Going into the second Qualifier, Sunrisers Hyderabad had lost four on the bounce and it seemed like they had peaked a little too early in the tournament (they had won 9 out of their 11 games). Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, we on a roll as they won four in a row to be in the second Qualifier.

SRH’s batting woes continued after KKR inserted Kane Williamson and co. into bat. After a good opening partnership, SRH completely lost the plot as they lost wickets at regular intervals (they slipped to 138/7 in the 19th over).

But Rashid Khan showed his ability with the bat as he struck a blistering 10-ball-34 to propel SRH to 174. Along with Bhuvneshwar Kumar, the Afghan spinner hit 24 runs off Prasidh Krishna in the final over, and all the good work done by KKR at the start was undone.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar hit a boundary off the first delivery before Rashid took over. The 19-year-old Afghanistan player hit one four and two sixes to completely change the complexion of the game. At one stage, getting to about 155 seemed tough for SRH, but this last over helped them get to 174, which proved to be 13 runs too many for KKR.

#1 Faf du Plessis plundering 20 runs off the 18th over in the first Qualifier against SRH (May 22)

Faf du Plessis was brilliant in the run-chase.

Chennai Super Kings finished second on the points table after the group stages and hence got to play the first Qualifier. In the league phase, they had found different players at different junctures. They also found ways to win from very tough situations.

Once again, in the first Qualifier, they were in a very difficult position. They needed 43 runs off the last 3 overs and they were 7 wickets down. Faf du Plessis, who had been in and out of the side, played the big pressure game and brought in all his experience to the fore.

With more than 14 runs an over required, du Plessis remained calm and targeted the right over as he went after Carlos Braithwaite, who bowled the 18th over. The South African skipper struck three boundaries and a six as he plundered 20 runs off the over to not only keep CSK in the game but also turn the game in their favour.

With 23 runs off the final two overs, Shardul Thakur then combined with Faf du Plessis to take the ‘Men in Yellow’ through to the final.