A 231-year-old record has been broken in Karachi, where Pakistan Television (PTV) pulled off the lowest successful defense in the history of first-class cricket.
They defended a target of 40 against Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to win their President’s Trophy match.
In Karachi, defending 40, PTV bowled SNGPL out for 37 to secure a dramatic two-run victory. Left-arm spinner Ali Usman, the leading wicket-taker at this year’s Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, took 6 for 9, while fast bowler Amad Butt claimed the remaining four wickets.
With this result, PTV became the first team in first-class cricket history to successfully defend a target as low as 40 runs.
The previous record had stood since 1794, when Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) failed to chase a target of 41 against Oldfield. That record had remained unbroken for 231 years until PTV’s historic performance in Karachi during the President’s Trophy fixture.
Low-scoring matches and fast finishes have been common in this season’s President’s Trophy, although the first two innings of this match followed a more conventional pattern.
PTV were dismissed for 166 in the first innings, after which SNGPL took a 72-run lead by scoring 238. With Karachi pitches deteriorating rapidly, PTV’s second-innings total of 111 appeared to set up a comfortable win for SNGPL before the extraordinary final-day collapse.
