Almost every edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has sprung a surprise of so. The IPL 2018 is all set to kick off at the forte of the reigning champions Mumbai Indians on April 7.
Afresh are the memories of the thrilling encounters between the top-notch teams. From the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town in 2009 – to Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium (SCAS) in Rajkot, IPL has witnessed the rush of adrenaline and the sweated palms.
Since April 2009, the domestic league has witnessed overall seven tied fixtures. Two tied fixtures came in 2013 only.
However, the incident didn’t happen in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2016 respectively.
The impending IPL 2018 edition could make us witness the nail-biting finishes yet again.
Here are the five smallest victories for teams in terms of runs:
Kings XI Punjab won by a run against Mumbai Indians:
In the inaugural edition of the IPL on May 21, 2008, Kings XI Punjab registered a thumping win over Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium.
In the 45th match of the first edition, Yuvraj Singh-led Punjab posted 189 for four on board. However, Sachin Tendulkar-led Indians fell just a run short of the target.
The hosts were bundled out for 188. For visitors, Shaun Marsh was the top-scorer with 81 off 56 balls as Luke Pomersbach remained unbeaten on 50-ball 79.
Kings XI Punjab thumps Deccan Charges by one run in Johannesburg:
In the second edition, this time it was held in South Africa due to the election in 2009.
Kings XI Punjab was yet again in business and this time around against Adam Gilchrist-led Chargers.
Batting first, Punjab post 134 for seven in 20 allotted overs. In response, Chargers team was restricted at 133 for eight in 20 allotted overs.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara was the top-scorer with 56 off 43 balls. And for Chargers, Rohit Sharma struck 26-ball 42 runs.
Yuvraj Singh led from the front which saw him bagging three wickets after 18-ball 20.
It was the same match in which Yuvraj claimed the hat-trick by dismissing Herschelle Gibbs followed by Andrew Symonds and Venugopal Rao.
Delhi Daredevils eked out a one-run win over Rajasthan Royals:
Owing to the intriguing clash between Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi, hosts held the nerve to claim a cliffhanger.
During the 39th match of the fifth edition, Virender Sehwag blasted 39-ball 63 to be adjudged Man of the Match.
Daredevils batted first to post 152 for six in 20 overs. However, following exception performance from Irfan Pathan and Morne Morkel, in particular, Delhi restricted Royals at 151 for three.
Mumbai Indians crush Pune Warriors by a run in Pune:
In yet another exciting clash, Mumbai Indians under the leadership of Harbhajan Singh delivered gold.
Batting first in an away fixture, Indians posted 121 for nine following the remarkable performance with the ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra respectively. Both shared two wickets each.
However, Lasith Malinga went on to bag two wickets after scoring run-a-ball 14.
In the 45th match of the fifth edition on 3rd May, 2012, Sourav Ganguly-led PWI was restricted to 119.
Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Daredevils by a run in Chennai:
Under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in the very second match of the ninth edition of IPL, CSK registered an emphatic win over Delhi Daredevils.
Super Kings post 150 on board for the loss of seven wickets which further saw opening batsman Dwayne Smith scoring 34 off 31 deliveries.
Nathan Coulter-Nile was the pick of the bowlers for Delhi while claiming three scalps.
Despite heroics from Albie Morkel at the top, Daredevils were close but yet so far.
Morkel struck 55-ball 73 as his innings included eight fours and a solitary six.
For CSK, Ashish Nehra was the chief architect with the ball, who bagged three wickets. Moreover, Dwayne Bravo claimed two wickets.
Ravichandran Ashwin alongside Ishwar Pandey and Mohit Sharma bagged wicket apiece.
Ashwin is leading now Kings XI Punjab for the IPL 2018.
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