There was drama as the IPL saw its first match decided by a ‘super over’, after the game between the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders ended in a tie.

Batting first, Rajasthan had posted a useful, if slightly below par 150/9 over their 20 overs, with Yusuf Pathan hitting a brisk 42 off only 21 balls. Ajantha Mendis was the pick of the Kolkata bowlers with 2/19 off his 4 overs. Chris Gayle (41) and Saurav Ganguly with 46 led the reply by Kolkata and going into the final over they needed just 7 to win, but with 2 runs needed off the final ball Ishant Sharma was run out attempting the second run that would have took victory.

Kolkata elected to bat first in the ‘super over’ and their trio of batsman were Chris Gayle, Brendan McCullum and Saurav Ganguly. Ishant Sharma was the designated bowler and Kolkata tallied an imposing score of 16/1, but Rajasthan batsman Yusuf Pathan destroyed the previously economical Mendis for 18 off just the first four balls to grab the victory and register their first victory of the tournament as they seek to defend the title they won last year.

In the days other game, this years IPL tournament has seen its first centurion in the shape of South African AB de Villiers, who smashed a superb 105 off just 45 balls to help the Delhi Daredevils to a narrow 9 run victory over the Chennai Super Kings.

De Villiers was ably supported by Tillakaratne Dilshan as their total of 189/5 was just too much for Chennai despite a strong second wicket partnership between the once again impressive Matthew Hayden (57) and Suresh Raina (41) as they closed out their innings at 180/9 with Pradeep Sangwan taking 3/28 for Delhi, who look to be amongst the early pacesetters and look to be the consistent side so far in terms of the IPL betting.

Chennai captain MS Dhoni felt that the crucial overs at the end of the innings were the ones that cost his side a chance of victory, and Andrew Flintoff will not reminisce too fondly about his performance at the death which saw his 4 overs smashed for 50 runs, with Dhoni saying:

“You have to bowl those last five overs really well, and I think in this game that was one thing that differentiated the two teams. You need to work on the yorkers in the practice sessions.”

There is just the one IPL matchup on Friday as Kevin Pietersen looks to arrest a two game winless slide as his Banglalore Royal Challengers side face off against Kings XI Punjab -the side currently at the foot of the standings. Bangalore have plenty of talent in their line-up, with Pietersen himself being a surprise hit in the bowling department and against a struggling Kings XI side, they will likely be favourites in the cricket betting odds for this fixture.

Friday also sees Australia get a quick chance to turn around their form after slipping to a surprising 4 wicket defeat to Pakistan in the first ODI in Dubai on Tuesday. It is rare to see an Australian side defeat twice in succession and this matchup is a contest that you can also bet on in addition to the IPL through BetUS Sportsbook.