Sunrisers Hyderabad became the first side to defend a total in the Super Over (SO) in IPLs when it beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by five runs in Hyderabad on Sunday.
In a matter of two overs, Vinay Kumar went from ‘hero to zero’ as Cameron White swatted him for two sixes to help the host score 20.
Despite Chris Gayle’s presence, Royal Challengers could manage only 15 against a fiery Dale Steyn.
Before this encounter, the league had witnessed two other Super Overs: Rajasthan Royals vs KKR, Cape Town, 2009 and Kings XI vs Chennai Super Kings, Chennai, 2010.
In the first two games, the teams which chased completed the task off four deliveries.
Needing 16, Royals was propelled home by Yusuf Pathan who smashed two sixes and a four off Ajantha Mendis.
In the Chennai encounter, Rusty Theron, making his IPL debut, restricted Super Kings to nine. Even spin legend Muttiah Muralitharan could not stop Kings from cruising home. After Mahela Jayawardene hit a six off the first ball, Yuvraj Singh finished things in style, reverse-sweeping for four.
Choosing the winner
In the event of the teams scoring the same number of runs in the Super Over:
The team that hit the most number of sixes (main match and SO combined) shall be the winner.
If the sixes hit by both teams are equal, the team which has more boundaries (both fours and sixes, main match and SO combined) will be the winner. If the tie still persists, the team which took the most number of wickets (main match and SO) shall be the winner.
If still equal, a count-back from the final ball of the Super Over shall be conducted. The team with the higher scoring delivery shall be the winner.
If all these fail to break the deadlock, the Super Over shall be declared a tie and the teams will get a point each during the league phase.
In the play-offs, if a tie persists, the team which finished higher in the regular season will be declared the winner. — Compiled by R. Narayanan and V.V. Ramanan
