Australia all-rounder Stoinis plundered 53 from 21 balls before taking 2-39 with the ball, including two wickets off the final two balls of the innings to send the match to a super over.
Kings XI Punjab had only needed one run to win from the final two balls before Stoinis’ intervention, before Kagiso Rabada took two wickets in the super over and Delhi eased to the nominal three-run target within three balls.
Delhi’s dramatic victory on Sunday came after Chennai Super Kings chased down reigning champions Mumbai Indians’ 9-162 with four balls to spare in the season opener on Saturday night.
Stoinis was the toast of the town, or at least Dubai, and the talk of the IPL after his performance, which comes off a solid series with Australia in England and being the Big Bash League top scorer in the 2019-20 edition.
“It’s a weird game, isn’t it? Sometimes the luck goes your way but you can easily go from hero to villain,” Stoinis said.
“You just try and feed on everyone’s energy. It’s nice that the IPL’s got going again. We were nervous for a bit. Didn’t think there’d be a Super Over tonight.”
While Stoinis got the headlines, Rabada was clutch in the super over and also took the catch off the final ball of the 20 overs to dismiss Chris Jordan and tie the match.
“There’ll always be nerves for me no matter how long I play when things get tight. Luckily it came off today,” the South African said.
On his super over, he added: “Today it was just mixing the lengths up and it worked. There’s decent bounce in this wicket, and the boundaries are quite big. So it’ll take a bit to clear it. I backed myself.”
On the Jordan catch, he added: “I just stuck my hand out. The ball before I was moved into the position so credit to him. It was just a reaction catch.”