
Analyzing Crazy Overs
KKR VS MI Match 14 IPL 2022: CRAZY OVER NO 16
Over: 64662NB46
It’s the 14th match of IPL 2022 between MI and KKR at MCA, Pune. KKR are chasing 162. At 15 overs, they are at 127/5 with 35 runs needed off 30 balls. One would think that the odds favour the batting side and rightly so. KKR had Pat Cummins (22* off 8) and Venkatesh Iyer (50* off 41) at the crease and the rest were tail enders to follow. Of the 30 balls, 6 balls are to be bowled by Bumrah, so you would give the bowling side a fair bit of chance. But that one over which succeeded sealed the deal for the Knight Riders. What happened?
Daniel Sams came to bowl the 16th over of the innings with 35 runs needed off 30 balls. His figures before that over were 2-0-15-1 at an economy of 7.5. Pat Cummins was on strike.
15.1 – Fuller ball and clobbered for six straight down the ground.
15.2 – Low full toss and heaved away for a four.
15.3,15.4 – Consecutive sixes, piling up the misery on MI.
15.5 – Brilliant catch at Long off but it’s a waist-high no-ball. The match going worse for both MI and Sams. They don’t have any more plans to get rid of the Australian.
15.5 – And the free–hit goes for four. Rubbing salts on wounds you would say.
15.6 – And Cummins finishes off in style with 4 overs still left.
If there was a “Moments before disaster” reference to a cricket match, this over will surely be one of the moments.
Cummins hit 35 runs off the over to take KKR home with his brutal innings. His score at the end was 56*(15) at a strike rate of 373.33. In the process, he brought up the record for the joint-fastest fifty in the IPL.
While it was a memorable night for one Australian, it was a forgettable outing for his fellow countryman. Daniel Sams ended the match with figures of 3-0-50-1 with an economy of 16.7.
The match had no business finishing that early but Pat Cummins ensured that the audience go to sleep a bit early.
Records created and broken in that over:
- Pat Cummins holds the record for the joint-fastest fifty (from 14 balls) in the IPL history along with KL Rahul.
- Pat Cummins smashed Daniel Sams for 34 runs — 3rd most runs scored by a batsman off a bowler in an over in IPL.
- Pat Cummins has the highest strike rate (373.33) by a batsman in an IPL match facing a minimum of 15 balls.
- Daniel Sams (bowler) conceded the 3rd most expensive over (35 runs) in the IPL history.
From the players’ point of view, Pat Cummins became an overnight superstar. It was one spectacular inning played by a player whose primary skill is bowling. That’s one of the reasons for a lot of praise towards him. He has surely taken some confidence from some of his similar innings in the past in the IPL and on that day against MI, he went one notch higher.
On the other hand, his fellow national teammate was subjected to a lot of criticism, trolls and memes. When you go for 10 runs in your first 2 balls, the pressure is straight back on you and most often you tend to commit mistakes which weren’t intended to be. Such matches can be extremely cruel to a player and it might affect him psychologically.
These are the kind of matches, innings, and perhaps the over, which will be remembered for a long, long time. Let us look into a similar crazy over which happened in the IPL 2022.
- Odean Smith (PBKS) Vs Mohammed Siraj (RCB) (RCB VS PBKS MATCH 3 IPL 2022) – 25 runs in the 18th over
36 needed off 18 balls at 12 RPO and on most occasions, bowling sides are the favourites. Siraj to bowl the 18th over and Odean Smith on strike. The over reads: 6WD461LB16. Odean Smith has almost sealed the game for PBKS. From 36 needed off 18 to just 11 needed off 12 balls. 25 runs came off the 18th over. PBKS won very comfortably by the end of the 19th over.
- Evin Lewis (LSG) Vs Shivam Dube (CSK) (CSK VS LSG MATCH 7 IPL 2022) – 25 runs in the 19th over
LSG needed 34 off 12 at 17 RPO. The captain surprisingly gave the ball to Dube to bowl the 19th over. Badoni and Lewis combined and got 25 runs off the over with 2 sixes and 2 fours and brought down the equation to 9 off 6 and then won the match comfortably.
- Rashid Khan (GT) Vs Chris Jordan (CSK) (CSK VS GT MATCH 29 IPL 2022) – 25 runs in the 18th over
GT needed 48 off 18 at 16 RPO with Rashid and Miller as the last recognised batting pair. Surely, CSK isn’t losing this. But Rashid Khan had other plans. He smashed Jordan for 23 runs off 5 balls with 3 sixes and a four and at the end of 18 overs, GT needed 23 off 12 balls and they won with 1 ball to spare. That 18th over went for 25 runs.
- Yuzvendra Chahal (RR) Vs KKR (RR VS KKR MATCH 30 IPL 2022) – 4 wickets in the 17th over – Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Mavi, Pat Cummins
KKR were going smooth in their run chase of 218 and at the end of 16 overs, they were 178/4 with 40 needed off 24 at 10 RPO. They had their skipper well set, Venkatesh Iyer on 6*(6) and then Sheldon Jackson to come next. But that Chahal over made KKR completely get into a strangle. Chahal prized out both the Iyers, Mavi and the also the danger man Cummins in his last over. He conceded just 2 runs in his final over. In that process, he took 5 wickets in the match (his first fifer in IPL) including a hat trick in his last over. KKR then lost by 7 runs.
- Andre Russell (KKR) Vs GT (KKR VS GT MATCH 35 IPL 2022) – 4 wickets in the 20th over – Abhinav Manohar, Lockie Ferguson, Rahul Tewatia, Yash Dayal
Andre Russell picked 4 wickets in the last over of GT’s innings and GT went from 151/5 to 156/9 in the 20th over. Russell just conceded 5 runs and ended with figures 1-0-5-4. He became the first bowler to take 4 wickets in a one-over spell in the IPL. The over: WW14WW
- Marco Jansen (SRH) Vs RCB (RCB VS SRH MATCH 36 IPL 2022) – 3 wickets in the 2nd over
In the second over of the match, Jansen destroyed the RCB top order and that pretty much sealed the game for the Sunrisers. He bowled Faf Du Plessis in his second ball with a sharp swinging delivery, then had Kohli caught at second slip for a golden duck and then took out Rawat in the last ball of the over. RCB got bowled out for 68 and SRH chased it comfortably in just 8 overs. The over: .WW.WDWD1W
- Shashank Singh (SRH) Vs Lockie Ferguson (GT) (GT VS SRH MATCH 40 IPL 2022) – 25 runs in the 20th over
This should be one of the best cameos by a debut batsman in the IPL. Lockie, one of the fastest bowlers and a very good death bowler, was taken to the cleaners by Shashank. The over: 6.1666 The last three sixes were off Shashank’s bat. A batsman on his debut taking on one of the fastest bowlers is crazy.
- Rashid Khan (GT) Vs Marco Jansen (SRH) (GT VS SRH MATCH 40 IPL 2022) – 25 runs in the 20th over
Payback time for GT to SRH for their 20th over.
22 needed off the last over. It’s down to Rashid and Tewatia against Marco Jansen. Tewatia is on strike. The over: 616.66 And needless to say the winner. Rashid has won another game for his team with his batting. It is this over that made even the ever-calm Muttiah Muralitharan lose his cool.
- Rinku Singh (KKR) Vs Marcus Stoinis (LSG) (KKR VS LSG MATCH 66 IPL 2022) – 21 needed off the last over
For KKR, it was a must-win to have a chance in the Top 4 while for LSG, it was a must-win to have a chance in the Top 2.
21 needed off the last over. Rinku Singh is on strike with 22*(10) and Sunil Narine on 21*(7). Marcus Stoinis to bowl.
The first four balls: 4662 and the equation is down to 3 off 2. A cakewalk for sure.
There came a stunning one-handed grab off the ground by Evin Lewis in the 5th ball which changed the complexion of the whole match. Stoinis then knocked off the timber in the final ball and LSG snatched away the victory by a mere 2 runs.
- Rajat Patidar (RCB) Vs Ravi Bishnoi (LSG) (RCB VS LSG ELIMINATOR IPL 2022) – 27 runs in the 16th over
RCB were 123-4 after 15 overs (8.2 RPO) and needed a strong finish to challenge LSG in a do or die game. Rahul brought on Bishnoi to get DK out as he struggles against leg-spin. But Patidar not only shielded DK but also took down the leg spinner. He smashed him 64646 and that over went for 27 runs, RCB finished very well after that and got to 207-4 (10.35 RPO) and won the match comfortably in the end.
The above instances reiterate the fact that When the going gets tough, the tough gets going. It is most often the situational demand that makes the players in both departments go berserk. And more often than not the matchups help a lot.
But some cases are highly unexpected like the Pat Cummins vs MI and Rashid Khan vs CSK ones that make us go in awe.
The Evin Lewis Vs Shivam Dube was purely a match up that worked in favour of the former.
We expect these kinds of crazy overs when there is a need for some big over to make up with the required run rate or when the run rate is so slow that you need to up it. Most of the crazy overs happen in the death overs as these are the overs where the batsmen look for a big finish and it may also work in favour of the bowler sometimes.