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.

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#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.

#2 Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Daredevils - 2013

Ravi Rampaul held his nerve with the ball in the RCB vs DD Super Over

This match was one of the most exciting IPL games to have ever been played. Delhi posted a par total of 152-5 in their allotted overs, thanks to cameos from opener Virender Sehwag, Mahela Jayawardene and Kedar Jadhav. Jaydev Unadkat and Vinay Kumar were exceptional with the ball, taking 4-0-24-2 and 4-0-21-1 respectively.

Bangalore looked like they were going to cruise the chase, as AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli added a huge 103 runs for the third wicket partnership. However, RCB choked badly and by the time Kohli got out, they were struggling badly on 138-7 after 18.4 overs. At this stage, Delhi were no doubt the favourites to go on to win as Vinay Kumar and Ravi Rampaul were at the crease. However, that pair took 11 runs off the final over to take the game to a tie.

RCB, batting first in the Super Over, then sent out their two most explosive batsmen in Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers. Umesh Yadav, though, kept them very quiet to begin with. Three singles and a dot ball began the over and RCB were starring down the barrel of a humiliating defeat. In the dying moments though, de Villiers stood up and launched two sixes off the last two balls to take RCB to the strong total of 15.

Moreover, when Rampaul dismissed David Warner first ball, Delhi were on the brink of defeat. Yet, in this fluctuating game, they came back strongly, with Pathan hitting a four and a six in three balls. They needed six to win off two balls and after scoring a single, the equation became five off one. Rampaul held his nerve, though, and knocked over Ben Rohrer and RCB pulled off the unlikeliest of victories.

#3 Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders - 2014

The only game to be decided by boundary count was RR vs KKR in 2014

These two sides met in the first-ever Super Over back in 2009 and they met again in Abu Dhabi in 2014. On this occasion, the two teams were literally inseparable. A brilliant 72 off 59 from opener Ajinkya Rahane, followed by a handy 33 from Shane Watson, took the Royals to 152-5 in their twenty overs. Shakib Al-Hasan put in a very economical spell of 4-0-23-1 to restrict the damage.

The Knight Riders started well thanks to a calm 45 from their captain Gautam Gambhir, with 31 from Suraykumar Yadav down the order. However, James Faulkner was lethal for RR in the latter overs of the contest, taking two wickets in two balls in the 19th over. Kane Richardson was tasked with defending 12 off the last over, but Shakib provided stubborn resistance and took the equation to three off one to win. Thanks to some quick running from Sunil Narine at the other end, KKR took it to a Super Over after completing a hasty two to the man in the deep.

KKR were batting first in the one-over decider and Rajasthan gave the deadly James Faulkner the ball. A poor run out off the first ball, as they looked for a second, left KKR reeling at 1/1, but Manish Pandey and Shakib brought things back for them. The next few balls were 1,1,6,1 - leaving KKR with 10/1 off five balls. Another run out ensued off the last ball as they came back for a second. This meant that KKR ended on 11/1.

Australians Steve Smith and Shane Watson walked out for RR and they started positively as they took four runs off Narine's first three balls. However, Watson then lifted him over mid-wicket to secure a much-needed boundary for RR. The equation now read four off two. Watson only managed a single off the following ball, leaving three to win off one, with Smith on strike. Smith knew that a tied Super Over would give RR the win since they had scored more boundaries. So, instead of risking the big shot, he calmly placed the ball in the gap on the off-side and scampered back for two. This meant that Super Over was remarkably tied and gave RR a win on boundary count.