What is a super over in cricket? What are the rules? We’ll explain it all here.
Cricket has evolved over the years from Test cricket to one-day internationals, to T20I cricket.
Consequently, over the years, many loopholes in the game have also been plugged by the cricket governing body, ICC, and the game has become fairer and fairer over the years, leaving very less or no grey area.
One question that always raised curiosity among fans is what if a match gets tied? Till 2007, there was no answer to this question, as a tie meant a tie, and neither of the two teams won or lost.
Then in 2007, when India vs Pakistan match tied in the T20I World Cup, everyone witnessed a bowl out between the two neighboring nations to decide the winner. However, it was looked at as a ‘penalty shootout ‘ version of cricket.
In order to provide more cricketing content in a tie-breaker, the super over concept was introduced in the year 2008.
In this article, all the details regarding super over in cricket have been covered –
What is a Super Over in Cricket?
Super over is the tiebreaker in cricket. So when the match ends up in a tie, particularly in T20I cricket, the match goes to a super over.
Super over is the methodology that works as a tiebreaker. Here, after the match gets tied, a 1-over match is played between the 2 teams to decide the winner.
Super Over in Different Formats of The Game
In Test Cricket, there is no super over.
In ODI cricket too, there is no super over in normal bilateral series or in the league phase of any 50 overs ICC Tournament, the points are simply shared if the match is tied. However, if a knockout match like the Semi Final or the Final of an ICC Tournament gets tied, then a super over is played to decide the winner.
These days, in any top-notch T20 match like T20 international matches, or matches in IPL, BBL, CPL, etc, if a match ends up in a tie, it goes to the super over.
Rules of the Super Over in Cricket
- As mentioned earlier, the super-over is a 1 over match played between the two teams to decide the winner in case the main match ends up in a tie or a draw.
- Here, each team gets to play 6 balls, that is one over and the batting team tries to score as much as they can because the team which scores the maximum runs in the super over wins the match.
- Each team gets a maximum of 2 wickets in the super over, that is if in the super over, the batting team loses the 2nd wicket, then the batting team can no more bat. For instance, suppose on the 1st ball, the batting team loses a wicket, and then again on the 4th ball the batting team loses another wicket, then the team cannot bat the remaining 2 balls anymore. They would have to defend then whatever they have scored till the 4th ball when they lost their 2nd wicket.
- Thus, the batting team chooses 3 batsmen to bat in the super over, whereas the bowling team chooses one of their lethal bowlers to bowl the over.
- There are no fielding restrictions as such in a super over, a maximum of 4 players can field outside the 30-yard circle, which normally happens outside the powerplay in a match.
- The bowling team can decide from which end it wants to bowl.
What if the Super Over Also Gets Tied?
It depends on various leagues and various tournaments what is to be done in case the super over too gets tied.
For instance, the 2019 World Cup Final between England and New Zealand saw the super over getting tied as well, and then the winner was decided on the basis of boundary count in the main match, and since England had hit more boundaries, they ended up winning the match.
A similar thing happened in IPL 2014 in the UAE leg where the match between KKR and RR where the super over too got tied, but RR won the match courtesy of more boundaries in the main match.
However, this boundary count rule has received a lot of criticism and was deemed ‘unfair’ by fans and experts, hence has been changed.
Similarly, if the super over gets tied, then points used to get equally divided as well in some leagues.
Now, the rule in international T20I matches stands that there will be an unlimited number of super overs till a winner is decided in T20 international matches.
The same holds true for 50 overs ICC Tournament knockout matches.
For IPL, during the league phase, if the first super over is tied, then a second super over follows. However, if the second super over gets tied as well, then the points are shared between the teams. However, an unlimited number of super-overs are granted in the qualifiers stage to arrive at a proper winner.
One very important rule to notice when it comes to more than one super over is that no batsman can bat and no bowler can bowl in two consecutive super overs. Hence, a different set of batsmen and bowler needs to be chosen accordingly.
That is all about super over in cricket.
FAQs on Super Over in Cricket
When was the first super overplayed in international cricket?
The first super over in international cricket was played in a T20I match between New Zealand and West Indies on 26th December 2008.
When was the first Super Overplayed in the IPL?
The 1st Super Over in IPL was played between KKR and RR in 2009.
How many wickets are there in a super over?
A team can lose a maximum of 2 wickets in a super over.
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