Defending totals is quite a task in T20s and even totals in the upper range of 180 and above have been chased down easily in the format. However, on a few occasions, teams have shown how low totals can be defended. Here we take a glance at the five lowest totals defended in the Indian T20 League.
Mumbai vs Pune (2012) - 120
The 2012 edition saw a humdinger as Mumbai defended a paltry total of 120 against Pune. Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ashish Nehra restricted Mumbai to just 120 but the run-chase was even more pathetic. Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and the bowling attack were superb in their execution and Mithun Manhas offered the sole resistance with a 42. With four required off one ball, Mumbai gave away just two runs and won by a run.
Hyderabad vs Pune (2013) - 119
Pune feature once again in the list as they failed to go past a low target of 119 against Hyderabad in the 2013 edition of the league. Bhuvneshwar and Rahul Sharma had restricted Sunrisers to 119 and at 76/4, Pune seemed on course for a fairly comfortable run-chase. The middle-order failed to carry on well and Amit Mishra, with a hat-trick, completely derailed the Pune run-chase. Hyderabad won by 11 runs.
Punjab vs Mumbai (2009) - 119
Punjab never gathered enough momentum in this game in 2009 against Mumbai and ended up making just 119. Irfan Pathan, Yuvraj Singh and Yusuf Abdulla were brilliant for Punjab with the ball and they combined to restrict Mumbai to 116 even as JP Duminy waged a lone battle with a half-century. His wicket proved to be the turning point as Punjab ended up winning by three runs.
Hyderabad vs Mumbai (2018) - 118
Hyderabad showed just why they are champion material when in 2018 they defended 118 against Mumbai. After winning the toss and opting to field first, the Mumbai bowling attack did a fine job in restricting the Sunrisers to 118. But Mumbai failed to start well and found themselves at 21/3 after the powerplay overs. Krunal Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav alone managed to make double figures as Hyderabad won the game unexpectedly at Wankhede.
Chennai vs Punjab (2009) - 116
Chennai defended the lowest score in Indian T20 League history when in 2009 they staved off the Punjab challenge by hanging onto a win despite making just 116 batting first. S Sreesanth shone for Punjab as Parthiv Patel waged a lone battle for Chennai in the first innings. In the run-chase, Muttiah Muralitharan and Ravichandran Ashwin spun a web around the Punjab batsmen with their respective four over-spell costing just 8 and 13. Chennai eventually restricted Punjab to just 92/8 in the 20 overs to win comfortably.
Feature image courtesy: AFP/ NOAH SEELAM
