Sourav SinhaIPL 2020: Match 36: Super Over's Super Over breaks the tie for Kings XI Punjab

19October

IPL 2020: Match 36: Super Over's Super Over breaks the tie for Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab has two players who are on top of the run-scoring charts in this year’s IPL. Looking at the number of runs these two players have scored it’s quite difficult to understand how this team is languishing at the bottom of the table. But as the saying goes, it’s a team game, and everyone needs to contribute on a consistent basis, and this is where Delhi Capitals and Mumbai Indians have been so good. As Kings XI Punjab took on Mumbai Indians yesterday – one thing was clear that Kings XI will come hard because they have nothing to lose and we were all set for an exciting encounter to wrap up the Super Sunday.

So how did it go?

Here are my 5 points highlights from yesterday’s match held in Dubai.

1. Keiron Pollard

For the last few matches, Keiron Pollard had nothing to do with the bat because the top order was batting very well. Things changed yesterday as Mumbai Indians lost their first 3 wickets within the power play. Keiron Pollard is generally slotted at number 5 but he was pushed down the order and he came in at number 7. When he walked in the scoreboard read 116/5 in the 16th over. It quickly became 119/6 in the next over and Kings XI was all set to demolish Mumbai Indians. But this team is a champion team for a reason. The next 20 balls went all around the park courtesy Keiron Pollard and Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mumbai Indians scored close to 60 runs in the final 20 balls of the innings. Keiron Pollard scored 34 off just 12 deliveries and took the team to an almost winning total of 176.

2. Mohd. Shami

Shami is one of the most improved bowlers in world cricket in the last 12 months. From being hammered around the park in T20 cricket he has now become an integral part of any team that he plays for. He is super fit with one of the best exponents of the bouncer in world cricket. He added the yorkers too in his repertoire. Yesterday his bowling figures read 2/30 and that was pretty good with all the carnage that was going on around him. He was not done yet though because he had an important role to play in the subsequent super over which followed.

3. KL Rahul

KL Rahul’s graph has been on the rise and this year he has been in a rich vein of form. The current Orange Cap holder became the first Indian yesterday to score 500 runs or more in 3 IPLs in a row. Though Mayank Agarwal got out early, Rahul ensured that he was always in sight of the asking run rate. He couldn’t take the team home though and once again got out at the most inopportune moment. This is one thing which he needs to work on. None the less, his score of 77 in 51 balls was easily the best performance with the bat amongst both the teams.

4. Jasprit Bumrah

You can’t keep Bumrah out of the system, can you? He is consistent and he was hitting the right length consistently. 3/24 is a superlative effort on any day but if you still end up on the losing side you have to give in that some days someone will be better than you. He was no doubt the best bowler amongst the two teams yesterday and each and every batsman struggled against him.

5. The Super Over’s Super Over

In the last cricket world cup, we had a tie in the finals which eventually took us to a super over. Quite inexplicably the super over was also tied and England won the World Cup because they had hit more boundaries than New Zealand. This boundary countback rule has since been discarded and the new rule suggests that super overs will continue till a winner is determined (quite like Sudden Death in soccer).

Yesterday we had the second tie of the day and Kings XI batted first. Bumrah was on the money in each of the six balls he bowled and Kings XI could score only 5 runs. Should have been an easy chase for Mumbai Indians but they ran into an inspired Md. Shami who defended those 5 runs and the match was tied again. This took us to another super over – the first time in the history of cricket – and finally, we had a winner with Mayank Agarwal hitting the winning runs. Mayank played a great role in keeping Mumbai Indians to 11 runs in the second super over by displaying tremendous agility in saving a six. As per the rules, the bowlers of the first super over couldn’t bowl in the second super over and that gave the Kings XI batsmen the necessary fillip to get those 2 vital points.

A great Super Sunday and possibly the best Sunday in months for cricket lovers. Both the matches went to super overs with the second one needing another super over to break the tie.