The Lord’s Cricket Ground has been a historical venue and has produced some of the best cricketing moments. Kapil Dev lifted the World Cup trophy in 1983 at the Lord’s balcony, and Sourav Ganguly’s iconic celebration happened at this very venue only.
Over the years, the venue has seen low targets getting defended. However, no team has come close to the lowest target that has ever been defended at this venue. Let’s look at the top 5 lowest total defended at Lord’s:
5. England vs New Zealand (239) – 2013
During the tour of England in 2013, New Zealand played the first Test match at Lord’s. England elected to bat after winning the toss and scored 232 runs in the first innings. No batter touched the 50-run mark. In reply, New Zealand was bundled out for 207 runs because of breathtaking spells from the trio of James Anderson, Stuart Broad, and Steven Finn. Anderson took a five-wicket haul, while Finn picked four wickets.
In the second innings, Jonathan Trott and Joe Root scored a half-century each but England was all out for just 213 runs. New Zealand got a target of 239 runs to chase in the fourth innings. New Zealand was bundled out for 68 runs in the fourth innings and lost the match by 170 runs. Broad bowled 11 overs, gave away 44 runs and took seven wickets. He won the Player of the Match award for his bowling performance.
4. England vs India (193) – 2025
In the third Test of the India tour of England, England won the toss and elected to bat. Joe Root scored a century and led England to a total of 387 runs. Jasprit Bumrah took five wickets for 74 runs in 27 overs. KL Rahul made a century for India, and India finished with 387 runs in the first innings. Chris Woakes was the pick of the bowlers for India and took three wickets for 84 runs in 27 overs.
In the second innings, England scored 192 runs as no batter managed to touch the 50-run mark. Washington Sundar took four wickets for 22 runs and became the first Indian spinner to take a four-wicket haul at Lord’s since 1974. Ravindra Jadeja played the role of a lone warrior and remained unbeaten on 61 runs off 181 deliveries. India was ultimately bundled out for 170 runs and lost the match by 22 runs.
3. England vs South Africa (183) – 1955
South Africa toured England in 1955 to play a five-match Test series. The second Test of the series started on June 23 and was played at the Lord’s. England won the toss and elected to bat. Ken Barrington led England to a total of 133 runs in the first innings. No other batter managed to cross the 20-run mark. For South Africa, Roy McLean scored a mammoth 142 runs and single-handedly took the lead over England’s score. The Proteas put up 304 runs on the board.
England trailed by a massive margin of 171 runs in the second innings. Skipper Peter May batted for 270 minutes and scored 112 runs. He got decent support from Tom Graveney (60 runs) and Denis Compton (69 runs). England scored 353 runs in the second innings. Proteas got a target of 183 runs in the fourth innings but was bundled out for 111 runs. England won the match by 71 runs.
2. England vs Ireland (182) – 2019
Ireland traveled to England in 2019 to play a single Test at Lord’s in July. This was just 10 days after England won the ODI World Cup. England was going through a tough time in Test cricket, and it was evident on how this match shaped up. England won the toss and elected to bat here. The recently crowed world champions were bundled out for 85 runs in the first innings.
It was the second time England was all out for less than 100 runs that year. It was the first time the team scored less than 100 runs in 22 years in the first innings at Lord’s. Andy Balbirnie scored a half-century for Ireland and led the team to a total of 207 runs in the innings. Ireland earned a massive lead of 122 runs over England.
In the second innings, England sent out Jack Leach along with Rory Burns to open the innings. The move worked for the team as Leach was the highest scorer in the second innings. He fell short of a well-deserved 100 runs by just eight runs. Debutant Jason Roy scored 72 runs off 78 deliveries. They helped England post a total of 303 runs and Ireland got a target of 182 runs.
It seemed like Ireland’s batters forgot how to bat in the second innings. James McCollum scored 11 runs off 17 deliveries and batted for 55 minutes. No other batter managed to stay in the crease for more than 25 minutes. None of them reached a double-digit score. Ireland was all out for 38 runs and lost the match by 143 runs.
1. Australia vs England (124) – 1888
Australia faced England in the first Test of the tour in 1888 at Lord’s. It was the 28th Test match between the two teams. Australia won the toss and elected to bat. Percy McDonnell and Jack Blackham scored 22 runs each for Australia and were the highest scorers. Australia finished with 116 runs in the first innings. England, in reply, was bundled out for 53 runs in the first innings. Only two batters managed to make a double-digit score for the team.
In the second innings, Australia managed to score 60 runs and gave England a target of 124 runs. England was bundled out for 62 runs in the second innings and lost the match by 61 runs. There have been only 17 times that teams have been dismissed for less than 100 runs in each innings. England have been there on three occasions, and this was the first time England was bundled out for less than 100 runs in each innings.
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