In the recent IPL 2025 match between the Rajasthan Royals and the Delhi Capitals, Sandeep Sharma, a pacer for the Royals, had a tough outing that nobody would want to experience. During the last over of the Delhi innings, Sandeep ended up bowling what can only be described as a chaotic 11-ball over. He struggled, giving away four wides and a no-ball, which resulted in 19 runs being scored off that over. To add to his troubles, batsman Tristan Stubbs found his rhythm, hitting both a four and a six, making the situation even worse for Sandeep. He had a shot at redemption on the last ball when he could have taken a wicket, but Maheesh Theekshana dropped a pretty easy catch, leaving Sandeep with disappointing figures of 0/33.
For some context, here are a few other instances where bowlers have had similar struggles in IPL history, also bowled 11-ball overs: Mohammed Siraj faced this challenge against the Mumbai Indians in Bengaluru in 2023. Tushar Deshpande had to deal with it against Lucknow Super Giants in Chennai, also in 2023. Shardul Thakur found himself in the same boat against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2025, and most recently, Sandeep added his name to that list against the Capitals.
As for the match itself, it turned out to be thrilling, culminating in a super over. The Delhi Capitals, led by a strong performance from Mitchell Starc, managed to edge out the Rajasthan Royals. In the super over, Delhi needed just 12 runs to win and they wrapped it up in just four deliveries, sealing the deal for them.
Before that nail-biting finish, Delhi had posted a pretty decent score of 188 for five. Rajasthan’s chase started well, thanks to Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Rana, both of whom scored quick half-centuries—Jaiswal made 51 runs off 27 balls and Rana hit 51 off 28. They seemed on track until a spectacular final over from Starc, who only allowed eight runs, pushed the match into the super over.
Earlier, the Delhi Capitals had a solid start, particularly with Abhishek Porel playing a great innings at the top order, scoring 49 runs off just 37 balls. Even though KL Rahul took his time to reach 38 runs from 32 balls, Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs kicked things into gear late in the innings, both contributing 34 runs—Patel off just 14 balls and Stubbs not out at 34 from 18 balls—helping their team not just reach but surpass the 185-mark. It was quite the match, filled with ups and downs that kept everyone on the edge of their seats!
