Delhi Capitals defeated Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday night in the first Super Over of this 12th edition of the Indian Premier League. It was a thrilling contest that saw South African fast-bowler Kagiso Rabada stealing the spotlight at the end with an absolutely brilliant Super Over.
Batting first at the Feroz Shah Kotla, KKR got to 185/8 in their quota 20 overs thanks to yet another Andre Russell special.
The West Indian, who has been KKR’s standout performer with the bat so far this season, scored a blazing 28-ball 62 to help his team post a competitive score.
Russell’s innings was truly remarkable as he had walked out to the middle with his side in a tricky position at 61/5 at the start of the 10th over.
The right-hander went on to put together a 95-run partnership with skipper Dinesh Karthik [50 off 36] to bail his team out of a deep hole. His knock was studded with four boundaries and six huge sixes.
The hosts then rode on a fine performance by young Prithvi Shaw to match Kolkata’s score and get to 185/6 in 20 overs.
Shaw, who missed out on a richly deserved century when he got out on 99 off 55 balls, looked set to take his team over the line but some top-class bowling from Kuldeep Yadav ensured KKR remained in the match.
The regulation overs ended with both teams tied at the same score and a Super Over was needed for the first time this season. And from there on, it was all about Rabada.
Delhi batted first and a boundary by skipper Shreyas Iyer and a couple of twos from Rishabh Pant helped them get to 10/1 in their six balls. KKR would’ve fancied their chances at that time, considering the kind of form Dre Russ has been in. But Rabada had other plans.
The 23-year-old got hit for a four off the first ball but bowled an absolute peach to clean up Russell two balls later. It was a perfect yorker bowled at 147 kmph and Russell had no chance whatsoever.
Robin Uthappa and Karthik could then manage just three more runs of the remaining three deliveries and DC had emerged triumphant on a memorable night.
As expected, Twitter was left gasping for breath at the end of the dramatic match. From Russell to Shaw and Rabada, praise poured in for both teams from everywhere.
The thing that amazed me about tonights game was that apart from DK & Dre Russ, the number of young players who starred are all In their early twenty’s. Kuldeep(24). Prithvi(19). Iyer(24). Lamichhane(18). Prasid Krishna(23). Rabada(23) Some serious global cricketing talents.
— ian bishop (@irbishi) March 30, 2019
Rabada saw all the batsmen messing up so bad and gathered his fury into the greatest yorker ever bowler in IPL. 147+. Base of middle. Boom.
— Siddhartha Vaidyanathan (@sidvee) March 30, 2019
1000 runs for Andre Russell in #IPL and he has the highest strike-rate (183.66) among all batsmen at the time of reaching this milestone, well ahead of the likes of Chris Gayle, Virender Sehwag, Glenn Maxwell, Rishabh Pant.#DCvKKR #IPL2019
— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) March 30, 2019
There should be a satellite launch vehicle named after Andre Russell in the Caribbean. Kya maarta hai boss #DCvKKR
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) March 30, 2019
The biggest wall for #KKR is #AndreRussell.
— Samar Anand🌀 (@YashSrk45) March 30, 2019
1st match- 49 of 19
2nd match- 48 of 17
3rd match- 62 of 28
Respect in increasing for you man. pic.twitter.com/k4Vk0vW21y
Andre Russell isn't a slogger, but he does score in those traditional "slogging" areas, in front of square on the legside. However, he's also immensely powerful back down the ground, meaning that neither full or short bowling is a safe bet. #IPL #DCvKKR pic.twitter.com/NSoRm5nCf0
— The Cricket Prof. (@CricProf) March 30, 2019
After that breathtaking innings Andre Russell will now come and take two wickets with the ball too...That’s what he has done so far. Unbelievable!👏👏👏👏👍#AndreRussell
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) March 30, 2019
Andre Russell is to T20s what Virat Kohli is to ODIs. The two greatest impactful players of this generation. #MVPs
— Mazher Arshad (@MazherArshad) March 30, 2019
To go for the yorker was so brave from Rabada - especially after he missed on ball one. Hard lengths or bouncers are lower risk & are a good option to Russell. If Rabada missed his yorker by a fraction the game was gone. He went for it & he nailed it. Brilliant. #IPL #DCvKKR
— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) March 30, 2019
That Rabada Yorker deserves a Loksabha ticket from a Delhi constituency. #DCvKKR
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) March 30, 2019
RA-BA-DA special super over.
— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) March 30, 2019
Well played Prithvi Shaw ! IPL turning out to be Super Exciting in the first week itself. #DCvKKR pic.twitter.com/UhnUtKzGg3
What a win !
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) March 30, 2019
Delighted. Outstanding innings from Prithvi and Kasigo Rabada showing his brilliance. #DCvKKR pic.twitter.com/LEJOlxho87
147.3 kmph. Such accuracy at such a great speed. Kagiso Rabada slayed it. #DCvKKR #SuperOver pic.twitter.com/IEuwSpNqnt
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) March 30, 2019
Am I the only one wondering why Prithvi Shaw is not in consideration for the World Cup? Knows English conditions too.
— Vikram Chandra (@vikramchandra) March 30, 2019
Looks to me like India have found the new @virendersehwag in @PrithviShaw ... #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) March 30, 2019
Top innings from young Prithvi Shaw. You could say he missed a century but the fact is that he has played a fabulous match winning innings.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 30, 2019
Prithvi Shaw at 19 years 141 days missed the opportunity of becoming the youngest to score an #IPL century.
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) March 30, 2019
Manish Pandey at 19y-253d during his unbeaten 114 for RCB agst DCh at Centurion way back in 2009 is still the youngest!#DCvKKR #IPL2019
Awesome ... another Super over but how did @DelhiCapitals let it get to this. #VivoIPL2019 #DCvKKR Jeez isn’t @PrithviShaw an exciting talent !!!
— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) March 30, 2019
Unbelievable match! Defending 10-11 runs in a Super Over extremely difficult. Rabada pulled it off with a degree of ease. All told, KKR ledt to regret poor top order batting. For Delhi, quite a few heroes, among them tall and rangy Rabada and pint-sized @PrithviShaw!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 30, 2019
It’s not just talent, it’s temperament too, Two youngsters ...Worldcricket will hear a lot about in the future ... #PrithviShaw and #Rabada #IPL #IPL2019 #DCvsKKR
— subramani badrinath (@s_badrinath) March 30, 2019
Hero on 30th March : Prithvi Shaw
— Roshan Rai (@RoshanKrRai) March 30, 2019
Hero on 31st March - Kagiso Ragada
The longest T20 ever played! #DCvKKR
Probably the best #IPL2019 match @DelhiCapitals versus @KKRiders ....and Prithvi Shaw is probably the most promising across-formats find since Kohli. Great to see his full recovery from that nasty injury..
— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) March 30, 2019