IPL 2023: Top 5 lowest scores defended

After witnessing a lot of T20 action in the last one and a half months, the Indian Premier League (IPL) supporters are all set to get the champions in the next few days. Among 10 teams, Gujarat Titans (GT), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), and Mumbai Indians (MI) came out as the best four sides in the round-robin stage, to vie for the trophy in the playoffs.

In the blockbuster league stage, fans relished some incredible matches. While most of the games were high-scoring during the league round but there were also a handful of low-scoring matches that didn’t disappoint ardent league buffs. In these pressure games, teams that batted first displayed their spunky side and succeeded in defending their respective low totals.

Here are the five lowest scores defended in IPL 2023

5.  Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants, Match 26

In match 26 of IPL 2023, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) faced Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Winning the toss, RR skipper, Sanju Samson invited LSG to bat first. Riding on Kyle Mayers’s 51 off 42 and Nicholas Pooran’s 29 off 20, Super Giants amassed an average score of 154/7 in their 20 overs.

Chasing the total, RR started well, scoring 73 runs in their first 10 overs, without any loss. However, Marcus Stoinis delivered the first breakthrough to Super Giants, dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal on 44 off 35. Following Jaiswal's dismissal, skipper Samson also went back to the pavilion scoring only two runs off four balls.

Stoinis, who picked up Jaiswal, continued his assault in the next over, and this time, he bagged the important wicket of Jos Buttler. After Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer also fell cheaply on two off five. With 51 required off 29, RR batters Devdutt Padikkal and Riyan Parag were expected to be effective, but both batters struggled to accumulate runs at a fast pace. In the end, Parag remained unbeaten on 15 off 12 but Royals fell 10 runs short.