Watch: 3 Super Overs In A Match For The 1st Time Ever, Cricket History Made
In a historic first in men's professional cricket, three super overs took place as Netherlands beat Nepal in a dramatic T20I clash in Glasgow on Monday. The match had finished in a tie after 20 overs, forcing a super over, which in any case is a rare occurrence in cricket. Then, even the super over was tied, leading to an even rarer occurrence of a second super over. Amazingly - for the first time - a T20I match then went on to a third super over, where the game was ultimately decided.
Batting first, Netherlands had posted a total of 152/7, in a match which is part of a tri-series that also involved Scotland. Victory seemed a certainty for them but two boundaries in the final over by tailender Nandan Yadav forced the match into a super over. Here's how the super overs played out:
Watch: Ball-by-ball action of the Netherlands vs Nepal T20I, featuring three super overs
First super over:
Nepal batted first in the first super over, and smashed 19 runs. Opener Kushan Bhurtel went berserk, slamming two sixes and a boundary off bowler Daniel Doram.
Netherlands opener Max O'Dowd, however, repeated Bhurtel's heroics, slamming two sixes and a four himself to tie the game in the first super over, leading to a second.
Second super over:
This time, Netherlands batted first and they made 18 runs. Max O'Dowd smacked another six, as did Netherlands captain Scott Edwards.
However, Nepal managed to level scores again. Nepal captain Rohit Paudel hit a six, while Dipendra Singh Airee slammed a six and a four to take the game to an unprecedented third super over.
Third super over:
The historic third super over turned out to be disastrous for Nepal, who lost both wickets without making a single run. Off-spinner Zach Lion-Cachet was the hero for Netherlands, taking both wickets. Netherlands batter Michael Levitt slammed the first ball for six, bringing an end to a memorable and dramatic encounter. Lion-Cachet was named 'Player of the Match'.
Super overs always provide an extra bit of spice to a match. The most memorable instance of a super over is arguably the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand, where the winner was decided by boundary count after both teams were tied even after one super over.
The dramatic end to that match eventually led to the rule being changed, such that should it still be a tie after one super over, then another super over will be played. A notable instance of this happened in a T20I between India and Afghanistan, where Rohit Sharma's heroics helped India secure victory.
However, history was made on Monday as Netherlands beat Nepal in the very first men's professional match, across both T20 and List-A cricket, to go into a third super over.
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