One-wicket wonders - the five IPL games that almost went the other way

By Srinidhi Ramanujam, Mar 25 (EspnCricinfo): Delhi Capitals (DC) pulled off one of the unlikeliest T20 heists, chasing down the 209 Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had scored after being 65 for 5 in Visakhapatnam in Monday's IPL 2025 fixture. This is the 18th season of the IPL, but this was only the fifth time a team has won a match by one wicket.

KKR beat KXIP, Kolkata, IPL 2015

It was the first one-wicket victory in IPL history, in the Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) final league game of IPL 2015, at home. The Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) spinners had KKR at 83 for 4 in the 11th over in pursuit of 184, but a fifth-wicket stand of 53 in 4.1 overs between Andre Russell and Yusuf Pathan revived the chase. Pathan fell for 29 off 19, but Russell went on to hammer 51 off 21. When Russell was dismissed with 25 needed off 19, Piyush Chawla levelled the scores before the last pair of Umesh Yadav and Sunil Narine scrambled a leg-bye off the penultimate ball to finish the job. This was so long back that Narine was the team's No. 11.

Bravo, Dwayne! It was CSK's comeback match in the IPL, and they showed the fans what they had been missing•BCCI

CSK beat MI, Mumbai, IPL 2018

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were coming back from their two-year ban, and it was a game - the season-opener - Mumbai Indians (MI) were well-placed to win at the Wankhede. MI overcame a poor start to post 165 for 4. In the chase, CSK slipped to 75 for 5. But Dwayne Bravo's stunning assault brought them back to life. CSK needed 46 from 17 and Bravo hit two sixes and a four in that 18th over against Mitchell McClenaghan and three sixes in the next off Jasprit Bumrah before falling off the last ball of the 19th. But all CSK needed was seven from the last over. An injured Kedar Jadhav walked out after having retired earlier to smash a six and a four off the final over, bowled by Mustafizur Rahman.

SRH beat MI, Hyderabad, 2018

MI had huffed and puffed their way to 147 for 8 in their second game of the season. At 56 for no loss after six overs, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) looked like they would coast to victory. But they lost nine wickets for 75 runs from there, before the last-wicket pair of Deepak Hooda and Billy Stanlake held their nerve to make it two out of two for SRH in the season. Hooda's unbeaten 32 included a sensational final-over six off a wide yorker from Ben Cutting, which reduced the equation to five off five. A wide and three singles brought it down to one off the final delivery, a slower one, which Stanlake hoicked to midwicket.

LSG's musclemen Nicholas Pooran and Marcus Stoinis smashed their way past RCB in IPL 2023•BCCI

LSG beat RCB, Bengaluru, IPL 2023

In a see-sawing contest, LSG stunned the Chinnaswamy amid high drama. Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had reduced LSG to 23 for 3 in four overs in their chase of 213, but Marcus Stoinis' 30-ball 65 gave them a platform, from which Nicholas Pooran's 19-ball 62 and Ayush Badoni's 24-ball 30 took them to the doorstep of victory. Badoni fell in the 19th over and LSG needed four from the remaining five balls with three wickets in hand. They lost Mark Wood and Jaydev Unadkat, too, in the final over. Harshal Patel bowled the last ball, No. 11 Avesh Khan missed, and the batters scampered. RCB wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik fumbled twice and then missed his throw at the stumps and LSG were victors.

DC beat LSG, Visakhapatnam, IPL 2025

A chase of 210. There was no KL Rahul. DC were tottering at 65 for 5, and it became 113 for 6 when they lost Tristan Stubbs. At the end of 13 overs, it seemed like DC had no chance, but Vipraj Nigam's 39 off 15 (on IPL debut) and Ashutosh Sharma's awe-inspiring 66 not out off 31 deliveries scripted a thrilling comeback, and LSG were beaten. This was after Ashutosh had been on a run-a-ball 19.