Last Updated on 8 months by Charbel Coorey
The 2024 T20 World Cup has seen three of the lowest score ever defended in the tournament’s history. After the run-fest that was the 2024 Indian Premier League, bowlers have had a strong say on bowler-friendly surfaces across the West Indies and United States of America.
Top 5 lowest scores defended in men’s T20 World Cup history
Incredibly, the three records were set even before the Super Eights. Here is the list of the top five lowest scores ever defended in the history of the men’s T20 World Cup.
5. 123 by Afghanistan vs. West Indies, Nagpur, 2016
A win that helped catapult Afghanistan cricket to new heights. Their win over eventual champions West Indies in 2016 was a great moment in their history, with their bowlers rallying to limit the strong Windies lineup to 117/8 in pursuit of 124.
Amir Hamza (1/9) was outstanding upfront. Mohammad Nabi and Rashid Khan (both 2/26) kept the squeeze on.
Earlier, the Afghans fought their way to 123/7 with Najibullah Zadran top-scoring with 48* off 40 balls.
4. 119 by Sri Lanka vs. New Zealand, 2014
Rangana Herath took 5/3 on an incredible night for Sri Lanka in Chattogram. New Zealand would have felt right in the game as they restricted the eventual champions to just 119, but they were no match with the bat.
Only Kane Williamson (42 off 42 balls) scored more than five. Herath went on a rampage, bamboozling the Black Caps batsmen with flight and a mix of deliveries that spun and those that went straight on.
3. 119 by India vs. Pakistan, New York, 2024
India put archrivals Pakistan on the brink of elimination when they were on the brink of losing this game. Chasing 120, Pakistan needed 48 off 48 balls with eight wickets in hand and looked odds on to win.
Enter Jasprit Bumrah. He dismissed Mohammad Rizwan to give India a sniff. Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Siraj then kept things tight before Bumrah delivered the knockout blow in the penultimate over that just went for three.
On a tricky New York pitch, India managed just 119. Pakistan’s poor finish was a key reason why they were eventually eliminated.
2. 113 by South Africa vs. Bangladesh, New York 2024
Another game in New York, another record lowest score defended. South Africa held on to pull off an incredible four-run win when Bangladesh looked odds on themselves to win.
In the end, the match was marred by some controversy with Bangladesh denied four leg byes off an LBW decision was successfully overturned on review. But, they still had their chances and couldn’t quite finish the job even with some full tosses delivered.
Earlier, Heinrich Klaasen (46 off 44 balls) and David Miller (29 off 38 balls) took South Africa from the depths to 23/4 to a defendable score.
1. 105 by Bangladesh vs. Nepal, St Vincent, 2024
A Super Eights spot looked in danger for Bangladesh as they fell to 75/8 and 88/9 against a buoyant Nepal attack. But, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman added a crucial 18 runs to help take Bangladesh over the 100-run mark, which looked a defendable total on a difficult batting surface.
Apart from a 52-run stand in the middle between Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Malla, Nepal couldn’t cope. Tanzim Hasan Sakib bowled a record 21 dot balls in his four-over burst where he finished with 4/7. Mustafizur Rahman was also magnificent, taking 3/7 which included a penultimate over wicket maiden when Nepal still had a sniff.
The Tigers won by 21 runs to seal their spot in the Super Eights of the 2024 T20 World Cup.