IPL: 5 Lowest Totals Defended In The History Of The Tournament

The IPL festival is set to get underway in just one week time in the nation and it is time to look at some of the lowest totals defended in the history of the tournament. There have been times when the franchises have surprised everyone by defending low scores that could have been chased easily.

The pressure of the big tournament is something to take notice of and it has been transmitted into the batting team because low scores can be tricky at times. The batsman is always in a dilemma if to go hard from the upfront and stick with the required rate. Most often, attacking is the best option for the batsman during chasing low scores.

5 Lowest Totals Defended In The History Of The Tournament:

120 by Mumbai Indians (vs Pune Warriors India):

The 2012 IPL saw one of the best low scoring thrillers in the IPL history between the Mumbai Indians and the Pune Warriors India. Harbhajan Singh, the captain of Mumbai Indians won the toss and chose to bat. Pune restricted the run flow from the Mumbai batsman and Mumbai managed only 120 on the board for the loss of 9 wickets.

In reply, Pune could not get going with the batting and the Mumbai bowlers put screwed the batsman with some excellent bowling. Mithun Manhas carried the team until the last over and Bhuvneshwar needed four of the last ball, but it went only for 2 runs and Mumbai Indians clinched the game by just one run.

119 by Sunrisers Hyderabad (vs Pune Warriors India):

The Sunrisers have been famous for defending low scores in IPL and this was one of those kinds of games but had very few to bowl at. Sunrisers batted first and scored 119 on the board as Bhuvneshwar and Rahul Sharma excelled for Pune with the ball. Biplab Samantray was the top scorer for Sunrisers in their batting lineup.

In reply, Pune Warriors managed to get off to a good start. But they slowed down in the middle after wicket losing wickets and ended up 11 runs short in the end. Amit Mishra was the star of the show as picked up a hattrick and won the game for the Sunrisers Hyderabad with a brilliant spell of bowling along with Thissara Perera.

119 by Kings XI Punjab (vs Mumbai Indians):

Kings XI Punjab pulled off a stunner against the Mumbai Indians in the 2009 IPL in a low scoring game. Punjab batted first and could manage only 119 on the board for the loss of eight wickets. Malinga picked up two wickets while Kumar Sangakkara top-scored for Punjab with 45 not out off 44 balls.

A star-studded Mumbai Indians lineup should have chased down the score easily but it did not happen as Mumbai faltered in the chase despite JP Duminy’s half-century while Yusuf Abdulla and Irfan Pathan were the picks of the bowlers for the Punjab team. Mumbai lost by just three runs at the end which was the template for the year for them.

118 by Sunrisers Hyderabad (vs Mumbai Indians):

Sunrisers Hyderabad who finished as the finalist in IPL 2018 went in to bat first against the strong Mumbai team and could manage only 118 on the board. Mayank Markande starred for the Mumbai Indians with the ball picking up two wickets while Hardik Pandya and Mitchell McClenaghan also chipped in with two wickets each.

Mumbai on reply lost three early wickets and couldn’t recover from the damage made in the early over. Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav tried to build a good partnership but it wasn’t to be and Mumbai were all out for just 87. Sidharth Kaul picked up three wickets while all the other bowlers bowled really well.

116 by Chennai Super Kings (vs Kings XI Punjab):

Chennai Super Kings cannot be taken out of the action anytime in IPL and this was another game that they managed to get over the line despite the odds not favouring them. CSK batted first and managed only 116 for the loss of nine wickets. Parthiv Patel was the top scorer with 32 runs while Sreesanth picked up two wickets in his 4 over spell.

Punjab was expected to chase down the score easily but Punjab faltered heavily while the CSK spinners did a great job in restricting Punjab. Muthiah Muralidharan picked up 2 wickets for just 8 runs in his four-over spell while the Punjab batsmen found it really hard to get to two figures.