The T20 World Cup 2024 is in full swing with all the spots of the Super Eight stage being sealed with Australia, India, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh making it to Group One while host West Indies, USA, South Africa, and England completing the second group. Bangladesh were the last team to make it to the Super Eight as they defeated Nepal in a low-scoring thriller while defending a score of 106 thereby making it to the list of lowest totals defended by a Test-playing nation in the T20 World Cup.
In this article, we will look at the lowest totals defended by Test Playing nations in T20 World Cup.
Lowest Total Defended by Full Member Nation in T20 World Cup
106: Bangladesh vs Nepal (T20 World Cup 2024)
T20 World Cup 2024 has witnessed a number of low-scoring thrillers and most of them have been played on the sluggish wicket in New York where the pitch offered a lot of assistance for the bowlers due to the uneven nature of the surface. Having said the match about which we are talking about was played in Saint Vincent which happens to be a decent ground for batting as the wicket provides help for both batters and bowlers.
The Gap
But as they say, T20 cricket is unpredictable as it reduces the gap between the Test playing and the associate nations something which was on show when Bangladesh took on Nepal in a crucial Group D encounter. Batting first Bangladesh was bowled out for 106 courtesy of a spirited bowling effort from the Nepalese bowler who bowled with good control.
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The Result
But as has been the case quite often it is the batting where associate nations falter and that’s exactly what happened as Bangladesh was able to defend the lowest total in T20 World Cup history by a Test-playing nation courtesy of some good bowling from the Bangladeshi bowlers led by Tranzim Hasan Sakib who picked up four wickets in his quota of four overs.
113: South Africa vs Bangladesh (T20 World Cup 2024)
The group stage match between South Africa and Bangladesh played in New York in the 2024 edition of the T20 World Cup takes the second spot in the list of lowest totals successfully defended by Test-playing nations in the T20 World Cup. Batting first on a tricky wicket in New York South Africa crawled their way to 113 for the loss of six wickets courtesy of some disciplined bowling from the Bangladeshi bowlers who were able to strike with the new ball thereby restricting South Africa to a chasable total of 113 at the end of 20 overs.
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The Chase
Chasing a low total of 114 on a challenging wicket Bangladesh was going well with their chase until the Najmul Hossain Shanto-led side messed up things in the last over. With six runs needed in the last three balls and four wickets in hand experienced batter Mahmudullah tried to hit a six to finish the game but was caught inches inside the boundary as Bangladesh ended up losing the match by the barest of margins.
115: South Africa vs Nepal (T20 World Cup 2024)
Nepal has been the team that has exceeded everyone’s expectations with the way they have played in the T20 World Cup 2024. One such instance where the team almost caused an upset was when they ran South Africa in a thrilling contest only to lose by one run in the end. Nepal bowled well throughout with their slow bowlers on a slow wicket which was offering turn and bounce to the spinners making it difficult for the South African batters to get under the ball thereby restricting them to a total of 115.
The Heartbreak
Chasing 116 runs to win and create history Nepal got off to a decent start as the team needed less than 20 runs in the last two overs with five wickets in hand but that’s when things started changing when Nepal lost wickets in quick succession due to some poor shot selection and fell short by one run in the end.
