Dubai: Marcus Stoinis' last over star turns with both bat and ball was complemented by Kagiso Rabada's brilliant Super Over that ensured a thrilling victory for Delhi Capitals over Kings XI Punjab in their IPL opener here on Sunday.
Stoinis first blasted his way to a 21-ball-53 as his late assault ensured a decent 157/8 for Capitals with 57 coming off last three overs. Stoinis hit seven fours and three sixes.
In reply, Capitals were in control for 15 overs before Mayank Agarwal 89 off 60 balls nearly won it for KXIP before Stoinis came into the picture again with opposition needing one off three balls.
The first one was a dot followed by wickets of Agarwal and Chris Jordan as the match ended in a tie and went into Super Over.
Rabada, a Super Over specialist, then removed K L Rahul and Nicholas Pooran off successive balls to keep an easy three run target. Mohammed Shami bowled a wide and Rishabh Pant got a couple as Capitals got their hard-earned two points.
Earlier, Stoinis stole the thunder from Shami with a belligerent knock which lifted the Delhi Capitals to 157/8.
The pitch had a tinge of grass, the ball was swinging and Shami relished bowling on a helpful track.
His wicket-taking and run-choking act seemed to have made the difference before Stoinis' outstanding hitting changed the complexion of the game in matter of minutes.
It was a pitch that required patience from the batsmen but reckless shots was how Capitals began after being invited to bat. Shikhar Dhawan (0) was run out to a horrible mix-up with Prithvi Shaw.
Shaw (5) paid the price for his extravagance and Shimron Hetmyer (7) failed to check his shot as Delhi slipped to 13/3.
However, skipper Shreyas Iyer (39) and Pant (31) respected the conditions to raise 73-run stand for the fourth wicket while Stoinis' knock towards the end put Capitals in a psychologically advantageous position.
Iyer launched into K Gowtham for a massive six, first of the innings, in the ninth over, taking the run-rate to a modest five.
Iyer and Pant largely relied on singles to keep the scoreboard moving. Iyer took Gowtham to the cleaners in the 13th over, creaming off 15 runs with two well-measured straight sixes.
Suddenly, Iyer seem to be snatching the momentum and it forced Rahul to bring back his best bowler -- Shami, who did not disappoint and got rid of Iyer. Delhi seem to be limping but Stonis rescued them.
