The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 is making the fans gasp. On Tuesday in Chandigarh, the Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders produced a timeless match. A day later, the first IPL 2021 contest was played between the Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. The Delhi Capitals won the match with to Mitchell Starc’s incredible 20th over and the super over, which caused wild celebrations in Delhi. Let’s go back to that evening.
Delhi Capitals – 188/5 (20)
The innings had a lot of turns and twists. In the powerplay, DC amassed 46 runs, 23 of which came in a single over that Tushar Deshpande bowled. After 15 overs, DC stumbled to 111/4 as KL Rahul (38 off 32) and Abishek Porel (49 from 37) faltered in the middle overs.
Axar Patel (34 from 14) and Tristan Stubbs (34* from 18) helped DC smash 77 runs in the last 5 overs.
The tale of two 20th over
In the last over of the DC innings, Sandeep Sharma of the Rajasthan Royals let up 19 runs. Maheesh Theekshana dropped a catch and there were four wides in the over. RR would regret that.
Mitchell Starc gave up just 8 runs in his 20th over, which was full of yorkers. With the score tied at 188, Dhruv Jurel was run out off the last ball of the innings.
Rajasthan Royals – 188/4 (20)
Even though the scorecard only showed four wickets, the Rajasthan Royals technically lost five. After scoring 61 runs for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal, captain Sanju Samson (31* from 19) departed the field while clutching his left side. Samson’s sudden departure gave Axar Patel’s troops the window of opportunity. The Delhi Capitals recovered with a series of calm overs.
116/2 from RR’s opening 14 overs
61/0 till Samson’s stay (run rate 11.1)
55/2 in the next 8.3 overs (run rate of 6.5)
Nitish Rana (51 from 28) was the main wrecker as RR hammered 42 runs in the following three overs. Before Rana’s attack, Tristan Stubbs made a simple catch at long on. The game was RR’s to lose.
Three outstanding overs from Mitchell Starc
Starc took the wicket of Nitish Rana with a superb 18th over, giving up just 8 runs. Mohit Sharma scored 14 runs in his 19th over. Starc delivered another fantastic over with nine runs to defend, forcing the first IPL super over in four years. The decision to have Starc bowl the super over was obvious. Despite a few hiccups, he gave a decent super over.After the back foot of the left-arm pacer made contact with the return crease, RR was given a free hit. Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, three RR hitters, hit the panic button, causing the visitors to lose their allocated two wickets for 11 runs. With two balls remaining, KL Rahul and Tristan Stubbs cruised to the goal.
Rajasthan’s Questionable decisions
In the regular game, Shimron Hetmyer failed to connect Starc’s yorkers. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a brilliant half-century in RR’s chase, was surpassed by Hetmyer, who opened in the super over. If he had been healthy, Sanju Samson would have been the other opener. Instead of Dhruv Jurel, RR selected Riyan Parag as their right-handed opener. In the main game, Dhruv Jurel scored 26 and Riyan Parag scored 8. Sandeep Sharma was chosen by RR to bowl the super over rather of Jofra Archer.
What’s next?
With their fifth victory in six games, the Delhi Capitals are getting closer to the playoffs. On Saturday, April 19, they will meet the Gujarat Titans, who are in second position, in Ahmedabad. The goal of the toppers will be to increase the gap at the top.
On Saturday, the Rajasthan Royals will host the Lucknow Super Giants.
