Top 3 lowest totals defended in ODI cricket, USA broke India’s 40 year old record
Top 3 Lowest Totals Defended in ODI Cricket: Big scores are not always necessary in cricket, sometimes small scores can also be defended with brilliant bowling and the right strategy. USA proved in 2025 that victory can be achieved even with low scores in ODI cricket.
The USA set a new record for the lowest total defended in ODI cricket on 18 Feb 2025. They defeated Oman by 57 runs in an ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 match, while scoring just 122 runs themselves. Earlier this record was in the name of India, who defended 125 runs against Pakistan in 1985.
The biggest specialty of this match was that no fast bowler bowled in it. Only spinners dominated the entire match and they took a total of 19 wickets. This is also equal to the record of most wickets taken by spin bowlers in ODI cricket.
Now, here we are going to tell you about the top 3 lowest totals defended in ODI cricket.
Top 3 lowest totals defended in ODI cricket
3. 127/10 – West Indies vs England, Kingstown, 1981
England’s 1980-81 tour of West Indies was very exciting. In this match, the West Indies team was able to score only 127 runs. Debutant Everton Mattis scored more than half of this small score. England’s team, which came out to chase the easy target of 128 runs, could not stand in front of the fast bowlers.
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The lethal bowling of Andy Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner forced the England batsmen to kneel down. Colin Croft played a key role in helping West Indies win by a close margin of two runs by taking 6 wickets.
2. 125/10 – India vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 1985
In 1985, India had registered a spectacular victory by 38 runs against Pakistan despite scoring 125 runs. Pakistan’s captain Imran Khan destroyed the batting of the Indian team in this match and bundled out the team for just 125 runs by taking 6 wickets.
However, Pakistan failed to chase even this small target and the entire team was all out for just 87 runs. This was also their lowest ODI score against India. After this match, the Sharjah pitch became known for low-scoring matches.
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1. 122/10 – USA vs Oman, Al Al Amarat, 2025
USA created history in the 54th match of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2. They scored just 122 runs and bowled out Oman for 65 runs to win by 57 runs. This is the lowest score successfully defended in the history of ODI cricket.
Another specialty of this match was that only spin bowlers bowled in the entire match. 9 bowlers bowled and all were spinners, making it the first match in ODI history in which fast bowlers did not bowl a single ball.
USA’s Nasthush Kenjige completely destroyed Oman’s batting by taking 5 wickets and made a significant contribution to this historic victory.
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