Winning a T20 match isn’t an easy task, especially if you don’t have enough runs on the board while defending. It sometimes becomes a herculean job when other conditional factors, like dew, are not in your team’s favor. Yesterday, Royal Challengers Bangalore squared off against Lucknow Super Giants and defended 126 runs in a low-scoring thriller. Apart from controversies and heated moments, we witnessed quality cricket throughout the match.
RCB openers Virat Kohli (31) and Faf du Plessis (44) provided a solid start, but the middle order failed to capitalize on it, thanks to Dinesh Karthik’s (16 off 11). Cameo, RCB somehow managed to score 126 runs. in Reply LSG decided to promote Ayush Badoni as opener as KL Rahul was injured, but the youngster failed to create any impact with the bat.
LSG got off to a shaky start as the man in form, Kyle Mayres, didn’t trouble the scorers. LSG’s middle order also crumbled under pressure, thanks to krishnappa Gowtham (23) and Amit Mishra’s (19) fighting knock, LSG somehow crossed the 100-run mark. KL Rahul, who came to bat at the end due to injury, failed to open his account even after facing three deliveries.
While 126 is a low total to defend, it still does not come in the top 3 lowest totals that have been defended in IPL history. Here in this article, we will take a look at those three instances.
1) 116 runs : PBKS Vs CSK ( IPL 2009)
The four-time IPL champion Chennai Super Kings hold the record for defending the lowest total in IPL history. The match took place at kingsmead Stadium in Durban. Batting first, CSK managed to put 116 runs on the board; except Parthiv Patel, no other CSK batsman managed to cross the 30-run mark individually.
PBKS (KXIP Back then) soon found out the chase wouldn’t be a cakewalk as both the openers departed cheaply. Except Luke Pomersbach (26) no other PBKS batsman offered minimum resistance against CSK bowlers. Muttiah Muralitharan (4-0-8-2) was elected as the Man of the Match for his economical spell and picking up the key wicket of Pomersbach.
2) 118 runs : MI VS SRH ( IPL 2018)
SRH pulled off an upset by defending 118 runs against the Mumbai Indians, and that too in their own den Wankhede. Batting first, SRH posted 118 runs on the board. Kane Williamson and Yusuf Pathan were key contributors for SRH.
As both scored 29 runs each. chasing 119, except Suryakumar Yadav (34) and krunal Pandya (24) no other MI batsman made any significant contributions. Siddarth Kaul was the leading wicket taker for SRH, whereas Rashid Khan was elected Man of the Match for his all round performance.
3)119 runs : MI Vs PBKS (IPL 2009)
Batting first, Punjab put up a fighting 119 runs on the board, thanks to Kumar Sangakkara’s steady knock (45 off 44). Chasing 120, Mi couldn’t snatch the victory from Punjab, as Punjab managed to win the low-scoring encounter by just 3 runs.
JP Duminy was the highest run scorer for MI, whereas Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Abdulla picked two wickets each for Punjab. Kumar Sangakkara was elected as Man of the Match for his match-winning knock.
