The Maharaja Trophy 2024 in Karnataka witnessed a historic event as three super overs were required to determine the winner of the match between Manish Pandey's Hubli Tigers and Mayank Agarwal's Bengaluru Blasters at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday, August 23. Three super overs were played in this single contest, a first in the history of T20 cricket. The defending champions, Hubli Tigers, emerged victorious after successfully chasing down 13 runs in the third super over.
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Three Super Overs in Maharaja Trophy 2024
A remarkable coincidence was that this was the second consecutive tied game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium involving multiple super overs. Earlier this year, on January 17, India and Afghanistan played a double super over in the third T20I of their three-match series.
After Hubli Tigers batted first and posted 164, Bengaluru struggled in the chase, leading to a super over. The Blasters required 2 runs from 5 balls with three wickets in hand, but a sequence of wide, 0, 0, 1, and wide meant the match ended in a tie. LR Kumar bowled the final over for the Tigers, conceding just five runs. Bengaluru then batted first in the super over and managed to score 10 runs. They struggled to score in the first four balls, but Aniruddha Joshi hit a six on the final ball (after a wide and a two) to take the Blasters into double digits.
Left-arm seamer Lavish Kaushal, who had taken a five-wicket haul in the first innings, had the responsibility of defending 11 runs in the super over. However, he also conceded exactly 10 runs, leading to a chaotic final ball.
With Hubli needing two runs off the final ball, their captain, Manish Pandey, miscued a shot straight up in the air. Lavish had the opportunity to catch the ball and secure victory for Bengaluru but dropped a difficult catch. Despite this, he quickly threw the ball to the keeper's end, preventing Hubli from scoring more than a single run.
In the second super over, the Hubli Tigers batted first and managed only eight runs. Bengaluru's right-arm seamer Gnaneshwer Naveen bowled an excellent six balls, not conceding a single boundary. Pandey hit three consecutive twos to take Hubli's score to 8/0 in the second super over.
Incredibly, the scores were tied once again as Vidwath Kaverappa, who bowled the second super over for the Tigers, conceded only eight runs despite conceding a boundary off the first ball, forcing a third super over.
In the third super over, Bengaluru Blasters managed to score 12 runs. Joshi was dismissed on the first ball, but Suraj Ahuja and Shubhang Hegde combined to score 12 runs from the final five balls bowled by Manvanth Kumar.
Hubli Tigers finally have the last laugh in last-ball thriller
Although Manvanth made a mistake with the ball, he became a hero for the Hubli Tigers. With Hubli needing 4 runs from the final ball of the third super over, the left-handed batsman smashed a full toss through vacant square leg to secure a thrilling victory for his team in what may be considered one of the most exciting T20 matches in history.
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