3 Times When A Last-Over No-Ball Led to The Team's Defeat in IPL
Sandeep Sharma's last ball no-ball cost RR the match against SRH (Source: Twitter)
The 52nd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2023) saw Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad engage in an epic clash. The match went till the last ball of the over and had the viewers glued to it till the end.
SRH emerged victorious by four wickets, but it was an error by Sandeep Sharma that led to Rajasthan Royals' loss. He bowled a perfect last ball that resulted in the wicket of Abdul Samad, but it turned out that he overstepped while doing it. As RR lost that match due to that one costly mistake, let us turn back the clock and look at a few more instances when a last over no ball cost the team a match.
3. R Vinay Kumar (RCB vs CSK) in IPL 2012
In the 13th match of the Indian Premier League in 2012, Chennai Super Kings took on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. RCB batted first in the match and scored 205 runs losing eight wickets in their quota of 20 overs. Chris Gayle (68 off 35) and Virat Kohli (57 off 46) were the prime architects of the stellar total RCB put on the board.
R Vinay Kumar bowled a no-ball against CSK in IPL 2012 (Source: Twitter)
Chennai made a steady start in the chase as Faf du Plessis played the role of an anchor scoring 71 runs off 46 deliveries. Later, their skipper MS Dhoni played a cameo of 41 runs from 24 deliveries and kept them in the hunt. However, it required a special effort from Albie Morkel, who thrashed Virat Kohli for 28 runs in the 19th over to leave CSK with 15 to win off the last over.
R Vinay Kumar was handed over the ball for the final over, and he started with a single, followed by the wicket of Morkel. CSK needed 14 off the last four balls, and it looked like RCB was pulling themselves back up.
In this instance, Vinay Kumar bowled an above-waist-high no-ball that was put away for a boundary by Bravo. A six-of-the-free hit opportunity followed this. With three runs needed in the last three balls, Vinay Kumar managed to take it to the last ball, but Jadeja hit a boundary of that delivery and ensured that CSK won the match by five wickets.
2. RP Singh (RCB vs CSK) in IPL 2013
The two teams remain the same; we take the clock forward by a year. In the 16th match of IPL 2013, CSK and RCB were once again playing against each other at the Chepauk.
RCB once again set a target for the home team. This time, however, it was a modest total of 165 runs for the loss of six wickets in their 20 overs. RCB's batting effort was given shape by Virat Kohli (58 off 47) and AB de Villiers (64 off 32).
RP Singh picked up Jadeja's wicket of a last ball no-ball vs CSK in IPL 2013
CSK had a shaky start to the chase, but the middle-order put their hands up and got the team close to the target. It turned out that CSK needed 16 runs to win off the last over, and this time it was RP Singh entrusted with the job by RCB.
Ravindra Jadeja started the over off with a six and followed with a four. CSK needed six runs off the last four balls. But Singh found his length and conceded just four runs off the next three balls, leaving two runs to be scored on the last ball.
In the last ball, RP Singh found Jadeja's outside edge, which was caught at third man. While the RCB was celebrating the win, it was discovered that RP had overstepped. CSK bailed out the match by four wickets as the batters had taken a single while the catch was taken.
1.Sandeep Sharma (RR vs SRH) in IPL 2023
Rajasthan Royals were playing against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sawai Mansigh Stadium in Jaipur (Match No. 52). The Royals batted first and, riding on the magnificent batting efforts of Jos Buttler (95 off 59) and Sanju Samson (66 off 38), posted a total of 214 runs for the loss of two wickets in their 20 overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad had a steady start to the chase, as Abhishek Sharma (55 off 34) and Rahul Tripathi (47 off 29) laid the foundation for the lower middle-order batters. But after this, there was a drop in the momentum as they lost a few quick wickets, and it looked like the Royals would walk away as the clear winners of the match.
Sandeep Sharma overstepping vs SRH in IPL 2023 (Source: Twitter)
However, Glenn Phillips had other ideas: he smashed three sixes and a boundary in the 19th over of Kuldip Yadav and brought the Sunrisers right back into the game. Although he was dismissed in that over, his efforts left 17 runs to be scored by SRH to win the match from the last over.
Sandeep Sharma came to bowl the final over, and Abdul Samad hit a six on the second ball. This left nine runs to be scored off the last four deliveries, and under pressure, Sandeep nailed three perfect yorkers.
With five runs left of the last ball, Sharma bowled a widish full and slower delivery that Samad played in the air towards long-off. Jos Buttler held the catch, and the Royals sealed the deal. But the third umpire intervened, and it was seen that Sharma had overstepped. With four runs needed off the last ball, Samad capitalised on the free hit and put it out of the park through the long-on fence to take SRH home by four wickets.
 "Probuddha Bhattacharjee")
