Best comebacks: Teams winning after losing 5+ wickets inside Powerplay
When a team loses five or more wickets in the powerplay (the first six overs) in T20 cricket, then it’s almost done and dusted. The chances of winning the match are almost gone with half of the side walking back to the pavilion inside the first 36 deliveries. Nevertheless, in the Indian Premier League (IPL), two sides have managed to prove this wrong by snatching an outstanding victory from a point when it looked all but over.
Let’s take a look at the two instances when a team won after losing five or more wickets in the powerplay in the IPL:
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore (2016)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were the first team to achieve this recovery act and it required a magical innings from one of their most explosive batters AB de Villiers, which he did manage to do so. In qualifier one in 2016, RCB faced the then-new franchise Gujarat Lions (GL) at home. The Lions batted first and got bowled out for 158 in 20 overs. Shane Watson was the pick of the bowlers for his spell of 4/29 (4). GL pacer Dhawal Kulkarni then wreaked havoc as he picked up 4/8 inside the powerplay. RCB’s score read as 31/5 after six overs with de Villiers batting on 12 off ten. He then took charge and smashed 79* off 47 with five fours and as many sixes as RCB won the match in 18.2 overs with the loss of six wickets. With this, the Royal Challengers booked their place in the final only to eventually lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
2. Delhi Capitals (2023)
Delhi Capitals (DC) became the second side to clinch an unlikely victory against defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the ongoing edition in Delhi. The home side batted first and Mohammed Shami broke their back with figures of 4/7 in the powerplay. DC Skipper David Warner got run out while Shami took the wickets of Phil Salt, Priyam Garg, Rilee Rossouw, and Manish Pandey. The Capitals were in all sorts of trouble at 28/5 after six overs. Aman Khan then hit 51 while Axar and Ripal Patel scored 27 and 23 runs respectively as the hosts reached a total of 130/8. In reply, captain Hardik Pandya racked up 59 but it wasn’t enough as GT got restricted to 125/6 eventually losing the game by five runs. Khaleel Ahmed and Ishant Sharma delivered spells of 2/24 and 2/23 respectively.
