Top 5 super-overs in IPL history

#3 Chennai Super Kings v Kings XI Punjab, 2010

Yuvraj Singh’s sweep won the match for the Kings XI Punjab

Chennai Superkings unarguably were the most consistent team in the Indian Premier League. They qualified for the playoffs of every edition they participated in, reached five finals and won two of them. Especially from 2009 to 2012, they were the team to beat.

This was the first and only super-over of the 3^rd edition of the IPL. It was a low scoring game where KXIP made just 136 and the best CSK could do was match that effort. They came close in the last over when they needed 4 from 4 balls first and 1 from 2 deliveries later.

However, Pathan made sure that they could not get it done. Albie Morkel, Mathew Hayden and Suresh Raina faced off against Juan Theron, the IPL debutant, to set a below-par target of 10 runs. Mahela Jayawardene and Yuvraj Singh were sent by KXIP to chase the target against Muttiah Muralidharan.

Super-over	CSK	KXIP
Ball 1	1	6
Ball 2	W	W
Ball 3	2	0
Ball 4	6	4
Ball 5	W	-
Total	9	10

The analysis to draw from this super-over is simple – one cannot afford to lose both the wickets in a super over, especially when batting first. More than anything else, it wastes an entire delivery or more, thereby restricting the batting team automatically.

Moreover, a spinner bowling in a super-over is a dangerous deal that looks too risky to be effective. Cheeky shots, exactly like the one Yuvraj Singh played to win the match, are more probable when a spinner is bowling.