Lowest Score Defended in IPL

Lowest Defended Scores in IPL

IPL is considered to be a benchmark for high-scoring matches in T20 cricket. Anything between 180-200 will make it a game to watch for.

The tournament has witnessed many big totals getting chased in a nail-biting finish. Rajasthan Royals hold the record of chasing the highest total in IPL. They chased 224 against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2020 in Sharjah.

Often when a team posts minuscule score in the first innings, it is considered that the chasing side has the edge. The excitement pumps up when the low-scoring chase goes down the wire and turns better if the defending side pulls off with a win.

Four-time champions Chennai Super Kings hold the record for defending the lowest total in IPL. The MS Dhoni-led side attained the feat against KXIP in IPL 2009 in Durban.

It was the final league stage match for both CSK and Punjab. Chennai had comfortably sealed their berth in the semi-finals but Punjab were in search of a must win to stand a chance to qualify.

Punjab held Chennai for 116/9 in the first innings as S Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan picked up two wickets apiece. Ramesh Powar bowled a brilliant spell of 1 for 19 from his four overs. Barring Parthiv Patel's 32 at the top, no other player from CSK showed the intent to score runs.

It looked like Punjab would comfortably take two points and get to the chase with ease but they squandered the chance to qualify. CSK bowlers turned parsimonious while conceding runs and kept picking wickets at regular intervals.

Muttiah Muralitharan dismissed the Australian pair of Simon Katich and Luke Pomersbach to reduce KXIP to 45/3 just after 11 overs. Suresh Raina cleaned up Yuvraj Singh for just six runs before Ravichandran Ashwin got the wickets of Kumar Sangakkara and Wilkin Mota in the 16th over.

Punjab Kings were written off in the penultimate over after Irfan Pathan's departure. CSK won by 24 runs as Raina, Ashwin, Muralitharan and Thilan Thushara picked up two wickets each.

Nine years after this sublime performance by CSK, Kane Williamson's Sunrisers Hyderabad went on to stun the IPL heavyweights Mumbai Indians in another low-scoring thriller.

Some meager contributions from Williamson (29) and Yusuf Pathan (29) pushed SRH to 118 before they were bowled out. A belligerent bowling unit of SRH sans Bhuvneshwar Kumar produced a clinical performance against a star-studded MI batting line-up comprising Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya.

Siddharth Kaul picked up three wickets while Sandeep Sharma (1/9), Mohammad Nabi (1/23), and Shakib Al Hasan (1/16) struck the important wickets in the powerplay. Rashid Khan's contribution was the most significant as the leg-spinner claimed two dismissals and conceded just 11 runs from four overs to bundle out MI for 87 in 18.5 overs.