Save for a couple of matches which have gone deep, most of the contests this season in the IPL have been decided much before the last overs have been bowled.
Not that the competitive edge has been missing, just that those tense last ball finishes --- one on which the IPL lore is built --- have been largely absent.
And last night, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, it returned.
The pulsating contest between the table-toppers Delhi Capitals and the underwhelming Rajasthan Royals went into super over --- a match that should have been, honestly speaking, wrapped up by the visitors in regulation period itself.
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The RR batting which has been capitulating all through this season yet again shot itself on the foot. It just had nine to get in the final over with six wickets in the basket. But it contrived even as DC's Mitchell Starc, who was the man of the match, delivered a master class in death over yorkers. He did not concede even a single boundary.
RR's Dhruv Jurel was faced with the task of scouring 2 runs off the last ball. But he fluffed it, and the match went into Super Over. At the end of 20 overs, both the teams had 188 to their kitty.
The Rajasthan franchise, which is mentally fragile, again lost the plot as it lasted just five balls in the Super Over (12 runs) as it lost Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal to run outs. DC Super Over openers KL Rahul and Tristan Stubb went past the winning target with two balls to spare.
DC chased down the 12-run target in just four deliveries.
In its regular time batting, RR was progressing well for the most part. Its openers had given it a flying start. Yashasvi Jaiswal led the charge with a blistering 51 off 37 balls. Sanju Samson contributed 31 off 19 balls before retiring hurt. Nitish Rana also made swashbuckling 51 off 28 deliveries. But despite these chunks of contributions, RR flunked the chase of 188, a score that was decidedly sub-par in the batting friendly conditions.
Time and again, this has been the story of RR. The middle-order has not been able to handle the pressure. In the field too, RR dropped quite a few catches, and in the bowling, after containing the DC top-order batsmen, it again lost the plot in the last three-four overs.
In tight finishes, it is usually mind over matter. And in that department, RR was surely found wanting.
With this win, DC climbs to the top of the points table, while RR remains in eighth place, struggling to find consistency.
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