Few days back we saw a great performance by SRH bowlers to defend the second lowest total ever in the home ground of Mumbai Indians. The team gave some scintillating performance with the ball and showed to the opposing team, what they have got in their kitty. Tis performance came in the wake of an injury to the bowling spearhead of Indian Cricket Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who missed the match. The performance made everyone to think back in the past and recall the lowest totals ever defended by the teams in IPL.
Kochi Tuskers defending 132 against Kolkata Knight Riders, Kolkata, 2011
Kochi defended the low score at the KKR’s home ground and stopped the KKR’s 3 matches winning streak with this win. Mahela Jayewardene was able to get his team to respective total and his bowlers paid off to restrict KKR to 126/9 and won the match by 6 wickets. KKR spinners Yousuf and Shakib took 3 wickets each to restrict Kochi for a paltry total but the batman failed. Mahela also bagged the Man of the Match award for marshaling his troops superbly and for scoring valuable 25. Manoj Tiwary hit 46 for KKR but could not lead them to a win.
Kings XI Punjab defending 132 against Kolkata Knight Riders, Abu Dhabi, 2014
KKR was involved in another low match defeat in 2014 when they could not score 132 against Punjab. KKR lost the match by 23 runs as they were all-out for 109. Again, spinners Chawla and Narine were the pick of the bowlers for KKR as they bagged 3 wickets each to restrict KXIP for 132/9. But the batsmen made the mess of it and could not build partnerships & only 3 players reached to double figure. Sandeep Sharman was adjudged Player of the Match for his superb spell of 4-1-21-3.
Deccan Chargers defending 129 against Kochi Tuskers, Kochi, 2011
Deccan posted a paltry score of 129/7 in their 20 overs, but Kochi was bowled out for just 74 in 16.3 overs. Sangakara steered Deccan to this score with 65 runs but it was Ishant Sharma who took the five-wicket haul to win the match. 7 of Kochi’s batsmen could not even open their account against the bowling power of Deccan which had the likes of Dale Steyn. Ishant was given the well-deserved Player of the Match award.
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Pune Warriors defending 129 against Mumbai Indians, Mumbai, 2012
Pune posted a modest total of 129/9 with Steve Smith being the highest scorer with 39. But MI could not even get near the target as they were restricted to 101/9 with Ashok Dinda outperforming everyone in the match with 4 wickets. Steve Smith was adjudged Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad defending 126 against Pune Warriors, Hyderabad, 2013
SRH have always been known for their bowling prowess and they pulled off another low score win against Pune Warriors in this match. After posting just 126/6 in their 20 overs, SRH bowlers led by Steyn and Amit Mishra won the match by 22 runs as both bagged 3 wickets each. Amit Mishra was given Player of the Match award.
Royal Challengers Bangalore defending 126 against Chennai Super Kings, Chennai, 2008
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RCB pulled the match from CSK after the opposition got off to a good start. Dravid scored 47 to help them reach 126/8 and then it was another veteran Kumble who took 3 wickets to win the game for RCB with the figures of 4-0-14-3. He was also adjudged as the Player of the Match.
Mumbai Indians defending 120 against Pune Warriors, Pune, 2012
The difference between the loss and win was just 1 run in this match. MI took the revenge of a low score defeat of the same season in the return leg. After loosing the track MI was able to put up only 120 runs on the board and then kept the nerves to win the game against the spirited effort of Mithun Manhas and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Malinga was given Player of the Match award for his excellent bowling in the death overs.
Sunrisers Hyderabad defending 119 against Pune Warriors, Pune, 2013
Another class act by SRH bowlers in the 2013 season as they defended just 119 runs. They reached to this total thanks to 30 runs from Amit Mishra who came back to take 4 wickets and won the game also. Undoubtedly Mishra was the Player of the Match.
Kings XI Punjab defending 119 against Mumbai Indians, Durban, 2009
The match was played in the second season of IPL which was shifted to South Africa. This season saw modest total as the conditions favored the bowlers. KXIP won the match by 3 runs after some real good bowling by the complete attack. Sangakara was adjudged Player of the Match as he scored 45* to help KXIP reach 119.
Sunrisers Hyderabad defending 118 against Mumbai Indians, Mumbai 2018
SRH defeated MI by 31 runs in the match as the batmen failed to score against them. Siddharth Kaul and Rashid Khan were the pick of the bowlers as everyone gave their bit to defend the modest total. Rashid get the Player of the Match award for his figures of 4-1-11-2.
Chennai Super Kings defending 116 against Kings XI Punjab, Durban, 2009
CSK won this match by 24 runs after they restricted KXIP for 92/8. CSK bowlers kept it tight with Thushara, Muralitharan, Ashwin and Raina taking 2 wickets each. Muralitharan was the Man of the Match for economy of just 2 runs per over.