There are many records in the history of Cricket. If we keep a track on the lowest total defended in World Cup, Zimbabwe tops the list. Zimbabwe successfully made a record in the history of cricket in the World Cup of 1992. The match took place between Zimbabwe and England where Zimbabwe won the match in Albury. There are many teams that are too good when it comes to defending, but few of them have made a history in the cricket world cup records. In this article, we have considered the teams that have a commendable record of defending in the World Cups.
The list of Lowest Total Defended in World Cups is below:
List of All Time Lowest Total Defended in World Cups
| Team | Score Defended | Opposition | Overs | RPO | Ground | Date |
| Zimbabwe | 134 | v England | 46 | 3 | Albury | 18 Mar 1992 |
| New Zealand | 162/3 | v Zimbabwe | 21 | 8 | Napier | 3 Mar 1992 |
| England | 165/9 | v Pakistan | 60 | 3 | Leeds | 16 Jun 1979 |
| Kenya | 166 | v West Indies | 49 | 3 | Pune | 29 Feb 1996 |
| Australia | 170/2 | v Netherlands | 36 | 5 | Potchefstroom | 20 Feb 2003 |
| England | 171 | v South Africa | 45 | 4 | Chennai | 6 Mar 2011 |
| Canada | 180 | v Bangladesh | 49 | 4 | Durban | 11 Feb 2003 |
| India | 183 | v West Indies | 54 | 3 | Lord's | 25 Jun 1983 |
| Pakistan | 184 | v Canada | 43 | 4 | Colombo (RPS) | 3 Mar 2011 |
| Bangladesh | 185/9 | v Scotland | 50 | 4 | Edinburgh | 24 May 1999 |
The match between Zimbabwe and England took place on 18 March 1992 in Albury. Zimbabwe brilliantly showed their performance in defending and had a splendid victory. With a score of 134 all out Zimbabwe beat England in 46.1 overs. With a run rate of just 2.9 per over, it trailed a score of 134 after England winning the toss and choose to field first. With this successful defence, Zimbabwe made a record in the history of Cricket World Cup. Zimbabwe is on the top in the list of lowest total defended in the World Cups. No team has been able to beat this record of Zimbabwe since then.
New Zealand is on the second position in this list. New Zealand outplayed Zimbabwe at Napier in this match with a winning score of 162/3 in this match. The match took place on 3 March 1992 in the 1992 World Cup. The match was interrupted thrice due to rain and Zimbabwe eventually exhausted its overs by the team it had reached 105/7, resulting in a Kiwi victory.
In the list of lowest total defended in the World Cup, England stands in the third position. England won the match against Pakistan by just 14 runs in the World Cup of 1979 on 16 June. Pakistan had a disappointing match with England where all of its players were dismissed too early. England made a score of 165/9 and Pakistan made a total of 151. The match took place in Leeds where England had its victory in 60 overs with a run rate of just 2.75 per over.
It might be amazing to know that Kenya is on the fourth position in this list. The match was held in the stadium of Pune where Kenya had a face-off with West Indies in the 1996 World Cup on 29 February. West Indies lost the match to Kenya with a very meagre score of 93 all out in response to 166 runs by Kenya.
In the fifth position, we have Australia that won the match against the Netherlands. Australia scored 170 and won the match with 48 runs in the 2003 World cup on 20 February 2003. Netherlands lost the match to Australia even after their bowlers showing a spectacular performance. The score of Netherlands was 122 all out after winning the toss and choosing to field first in response to 170/2 by Australia.
Interestingly no team broke this record in World Cup 2019. With many records broken this year, this record still remains unbroken this time.
Also Read : Lowest team total in world cup
