IPL 2008: A memorable portrayal of a thrilling encounter
Although many exciting matches are seen every day in IPL, but the thrill which was seen in the initial phase of IPL is not seen this time. After watching the highlights of IPL matches 14-15 years ago, it becomes clear that real matches used to take place much earlier. Now the Impact Player Rule, No Ball and Wide DRS system have almost ended the thrill of IPL.
IPL 2008: A memorable portrayal of a thrilling encounter
Today we are going to discuss a very exciting match which is remembered for the brilliant century of Andrew Symonds. This was the match of IPL 2008 in which many legend cricketers were seen performing brilliantly together. IPL had created a stir in the very first season and many exciting matches were being seen.
This was the 9th match of IPL 2008. The match was played between Rajasthan Royals and Deccan Chargers Hyderabad (now known as Sunrisers Hyderabad). The captain of Rajasthan Royals was Shane Warne and after Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, the captain was VVS Laxman. At that time, the atmosphere of IPL was such that almost every team was dominated by Australian players and it seemed that they had transformed IPL into APL i.e. Australian Premium League.
IPL 2008: A memorable portrayal of a thrilling encounter
Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne won the toss and decided to bowl first. Batting first, Deccan Chargers Hyderabad scored 214 runs losing 5 wickets in 20 overs. For Deccan Chargers Hyderabad, their all-rounder Andrew Symonds scored a stormy century. Symonds played a stormy inning of unbeaten 117 runs with the help of 11 fours and 7 sixes in 53 balls. Yusuf Pathan took 2 wickets for Rajasthan Royals.
Deccan Chargers Hyderabad had given a huge target of 215 runs to Rajasthan Royals but Rajasthan Royals had dwarfed this huge target. For Rajasthan Royals, Graeme Smith scored 71 runs in 45 balls and Yusuf Pathan scored 61 runs in 28 balls with the help of 4 fours and 6 sixes. The result of the match came in the last over when Rajasthan Royals needed 17 runs from 6 balls to win.
Deccan Chargers Hyderabad captain VVS Laxman, showing confidence in his all-rounder, gave the last over to Andrew Symonds. Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne was at the non-strike end and Pankaj Singh was at the strike end.
Pankaj Singh took two runs on the first ball and then took a single on the second ball and gave the strike to captain Shane Warne. Rajasthan Royals still needed 14 runs from four balls to win. It was from here that Shane Warne changed the map of the match with his stormy batting. Warne hit a four on the third ball of Symonds, a six on the fourth ball and also a six on the fifth ball, giving Rajasthan Royals a sensational victory by 3 wickets. Shane Warne played an unbeaten inning of 22 runs on 9 balls.
Andrew Symonds, who had scored a century in this match and remained a hero for his team till the last over of Rajasthan Royals’ innings, was turned into a villain in a moment by Shane Warne by beating him. Yusuf Pathan was given the Player of the Match award for his excellent all-round performance. In fact, the old IPL matches which did not have Impact Player, Noball, Wideball and DRS used to be very exciting. Those matches cannot be compared with the current IPL because neither the players nor the umpires are the same.