On Sunday, India clashed with Pakistan in their second Group A game at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York. Defending a small target of 120 , India won by 6 runs against their neighboring rivals.
Pakistan won the toss and chose to bowl.
Rohit Sharma opened the bat with Virat Kohli but within 3 overs they became target of stunning bowling attack by Pakistan and couldn’t score big. Rishabh Pant on an unfavorable pitch held the grip and somehow dragged the score to 96 before succumbing to Muhammad Amir. The remaining lot were bundled out at 119/10.
On the other side, Pakistan failed to chase down a target of 120. In response, Player of the Match, Jasprit Bumrah from his four overs took three major wickets, Muhammad Rizwan, Babar Azam and Iftikhar Ahmed. Limiting Pak to 113, India won the epic battle by 6 runs.
This defeat was the most humiliating defeat to Pakistan. The Men in Green couldn’t even chase a meagre total of 119. Cricketing history has recorded many more matches where teams were successful in defending the lowest targets.
Defending the lowest total ever in the tournament history against Pakistan, India ties with the record of Sri Lanka from 2014 T20 World Cup match. India has also surpassed their own lowest defending total in T20I cricket. Back in 2016, against Zimbabwe displaying a target of 139 runs, they had restricted the opponent to 135/6. Other countries include, New Zealand, South Africa and Afghanistan.
India made history in the high-octane ICC T20 World Cup clash in a six run win against Pakistan. Revisiting the pages of history, let’s see the lowest targets defended in T20 World Cup.
Lowest Targets Successfully Defended in T20 World Cup History
- India defended a total of 119 in 20 overs against Pakistan at New York in 2024.
- Sri Lanka at Chattogram in 2014 defended a total of 119 in 19.2 overs beating New Zealand by 59 runs
- Afghanistan defended a total of 123 against West Indies in 20 overs at Nagpur in 2016.
- New Zealand beat India by 47 runs, defending a total of 126 in 20 overs at Nagpur in 2016.
- South Africa at Lord’s in 2009, defended a total of 128 in 20 overs, winning the match by one run against New Zealand.
- South Africa at Nottingham defended a total of 130 in 20 overs against India, in the year 2009.
Tabinda Mir is a writer from Kashmir. She is an English Honours graduate and her interests primarily dwell in poetry and sports writing. She likes to cover Cricket as an avid fan. Apart from sports, her other publications include articles, poems and a letter to summer in the book titled, “Under The Summer Skies”.
Also, her leisure time activities include reading novels, poetry, non literary works, philosophies and writing poetry, short stories, articles on diverse themes.
