These ties are indeed exceptional and always unforgettable giving cricket lovers worldwide a thrilling experience. Many games have finished in spectacular ties during the course of this competition resulting into super overs with nail biting finishes.
India played against Pakistan in Durban during the inaugural T20 World Cup. 2007 which featured one of the most memorable tied matches ever. This was a match between India and Pakistan in group stage. They each scored 141 hence leading to an exciting bowl-out that ended 3-0 towards India’s favor thereby setting themselves up for winning the tournament later on.
Two back-to-back tied games were witnessed at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Sri Lanka in 2012. The first involved Sri Lanka playing against New Zealand. Both teams could only score 174 runs from twenty overs each thus leading to Super Over. Where Sri Lanka won because it had superior batting.
In few days’ time, they also had another tie between New Zealand and West Indies at the same venue. Both sides made exactly 139 runs. It was followed by equally nail biting super over having New Zealand edging past West Indies adding another chapter to history of tied matches.
Tied matches
IND vs PAK, Durban, 2007
SL vs NZ, Pallekele, 2012
NZ vs WI, Pallekele, 2012
NAM vs OMAN Bridgetown, 2024
USA vs PAK Dallas, 2024
Fast forward to year: 2024 when there still continued being thrilling equality based contests. However, during such period, Namibia faced Oman in a tight match at Bridgetown. Possibly, the two collapses mustered just above one century going for exact equal tallies of 109 runs before proceeding into a Super Over. Whereby Namibia who managed to hold their nerves went ahead ultimately triumphing over these unfathomable aspects within T20 format of cricket.
The most recent case was in Dallas in 2024. The United States played Pakistan, a match being thrilling part of Group A games. Pakistan fought back from a poor start to reach 159-7, having won the cup three years ago at Lords. In response, the United States launched an exhilarating chase. Which saw them score 14 runs off the final over to finish on 159-3 and force the game into a Super Over. They managed nineteen that they were able to defend against Pakistan during Super Over. It was indeed the excellent bowling of Saurabh Netravalkar that restricted. Pakistan to just 13-1 leading to an important win for the USA and one of the biggest upsets ever witnessed in T20 World Cup history.
These ties are also significant as they bring out the sheer thrill and unpredictability often associated with T20 cricket where any single ball can alter outcome of a game while tie drama usually ends up with unforgettable climaxing moments.
