The first Super Over of IPL 2021 was contested between Delhi Capitals (DC) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH)
The day was April 25, 2021 and it was the 20th match of IPL 2021 played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The start of the two teams in the tournament could not have been starker.
While Delhi Capitals were comfortably placed in the top four and doing well, Hyderabad struggled to score every run and pick up every wicket.Delhi Capitals batted first and decimated the Hyderabad bowling attack, which had many weak links, apart from Rashid Khan, who stood out. The likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Abhishek Sharma, SiddharthKaul, JagadeeshaSussith, and Vijay Shankar are not renowned for their bowling in IPL cricket.As a result, Prithvi Shaw smashed 53 off just 39 balls at a strike rate of 135. With the help of 30s from Rishabh Pant and Steve Smith, Delhi capitals posted 159 on the board.
Sunrisers Hyderabad were behind the eight ball for most of the match. Axar Patel and Avesh Khan were the best bowlers for Delhi Capitals and picked up five wickets. Patel was the more economical of the two and gave away runs at just 6.54. RavichandranAshwin was also miserly
Kane Williamson dug in deep for SRH and remained unbeaten on 66 off 51 deliveries. He ultimately took the match right to the last over where Hyderabad should have actually won but the scores were level and the match went into a Super Over.
Interestingly, instead of Kagiso Rabada, who has had a history of doing well in the Super Over, Delhi decided to hand Axar Patel the ball. Patel did well and conceded just seven runs off the over. Despite David Warner and Kane Williamson at the crease, he gave away only one boundary off the third ball, which was off a dragged-down delivery.
Patel’s aggression on the field during the Super Over
It was no surprise that Sunrisers Hyderabad gave the ball to Rashid Khan, who matched Patel ball for ball. He conceded just one off the first delivery and got Rishabh Pant off-strike. Shikhar Dhawan managed a leg bye off the second ball.
It was Pant who played the deciding shot, a reverse sweep for four off the third ball. There was no run off the fourth delivery but two leg byes off the fifth and sixth deliveries for Delhi Capitals got them over the line. As a result, DC beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by the barest of margins.
For the record, between 2008 and 2023, only 14 Super Overs have been played in the IPL so far. The first took place in IPL 2009 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royal with the Royals winning the game. Last but not least, the Super Over mentioned in this article between SRH and DC was the last one and since 2021, we are yet to witness a Super Over.
