In a cricket match, there are two most obvious results, either a team wins or a team loses. Very rarely though, we witness a match where both the teams score exactly the same total. The match is declared as a tie. In T20Is, we play out a super-over to decide the winner. In the IPL 2014 and IPL 2017, April 29th witnessed Super-Over as both the matches were tied.
First Tie – IPL 2014
The first instance of a tie occurred in the IPL 2014 whose first phase was played out in UAE. The match was played between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. RR won the toss and decided to bat first. Ajinkya Rahane played an exceptional inning at the top and scored 72 runs. With Steve Smith accelerating at the end, RR piled up 152/5.
KKR in the chase were cruising towards the total on the back of Gambhir’s 45 at the top and Shakib-Surya partnership in the middle. With Kolkata being 137/4, the victory was imminent. James Faulkner then brought RR back in the game with three wickets in the over. Shakib Al Hasan stayed at the end and ensured a tie.
The two teams then played out an one over eliminator. Remarkably, the scores in the super over were also tied. The decision of the winner was still pending. The result tilted in the favor of Rajasthan as they won by the boundary-count rule.
Second Tie – IPL 2017
Gujarat Lions was hosting Mumbai Indians at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Rajkot on this day in 2017. Lions captain Suresh Raina won the toss and elected to bat first. Ishan Kishan opened the innings and flashed out hard with his 48 runs from 35 balls. Rest of the batting middle order was slashed through by Malinga and Bumrah.
Lions eventually ended up with the total of 153/9 on the board. Krunal Pandya took 3/14 to lead the bowling attack. Mumbai’s chase actually began with the Gujarati boy Parthiv Patel leading the way. He single-handedly scored 70 runs with 44 balls.
Basil Thampi struck thrice and recorded the figures of 3/29. Rest of the Mumbai batting line-up flopped and it was Krunal Pandya who had to deliver with the bat too. He was run-out on the last ball as Mumbai tied the score. Jasprit Bumrah defended 12 runs in the super over to win the match for Mumbai.
