Lowest Test Totals in Test Cricket
Test Cricket brings different challenges for the players for a course of five days. From pitch difficulties to different cricket balls, it doesn't offer easy conditions for the players to perform. That is why sometimes even the entire team fails to perform.
The highest test total in tests is 952/6d, which had a total of 58 extras in it. But you will be surprised to know that the lowest test total is even lesser than the extras involved in the highest test totals.
There have been some mind-bogglingly low scores that the teams have registered in the longest format. This blog will feature the lowest scores in the history of test cricket.
List of Lowest Test Totals in Test Cricket (Top 5)
5. South Africa - 35 all-out vs England in Cape Town (1899)
The Proteas had four of the lowest totals out of the top six ever. The fifth lowest on this list was recorded in Cape Town in 1899. This was recorded in the fourth inning. Batting first, England scored 92 runs, and South Africa took a lead of 85 runs after scoring 177.
Trailing by 85 runs, England reached 330 runs with Johnny Tyldesley (112) scoring a century. South Africa had a target of 246 runs to chase, but they suffered a batting collapse. Opener Albert Powell scored 11 runs, while the other ten batters couldn't touch the ten-run mark. They were bowled out for 35 runs in 22.4 overs, losing by 210 runs. For England, Schofield Haigh (6/11) and Albert Trott (4/19) took ten wickets between them.
4. South Africa - 30 all out vs England in Birmingham (1924)
South Africa had another heartbreak with the bat against England in 1924. This was an away test in Birmingham, when the Proteas recorded a very low total. The first innings saw England reaching 438 runs in 124 overs. Five English batters scored a half-century each in that innings. But for South Africa, it was like a different pitch.
No South African batter could reach the ten-run mark, and the top score was 11, which came in extras. They were embarrassed with a score of 30 runs in 12.3 overs, which had only 19 runs coming from the bat. South Africa scored 390 runs in the second innings but still suffered a defeat by an innings and 18 runs.
3. South Africa - 35 all-out vs England in Gqeberha (1896)
Against England, South Africa registered another low score in 1896 in the Gqeberha test. This also came in the fourth inning. After the first innings, England (185) had a lead of 92 runs over South Africa (93). The English team scored another 226 runs in their second innings.
South Africa had an uphill task to chase 319 runs. Their batters failed miserably in the chase. The whole team only managed 30 runs in 18.4 overs and lost by a massive 288 runs. England's George Lohmann had an interesting performance. He scored ducks in both innings. But with the ball, he registered 7/38 and 8/7.
2. West Indies - 27 all out vs Australia in Kingston (2025)
It looks impossible for a team to get all out for a cheaper score in the current generation because there are many rules in favor of the batters. But Australia still managed to display an unbelievable bowling display against West Indies most recently in Kingston.
Australia had a first-inning lead of 82 runs. With another 121 runs in the second innings, the visitors posted a target of 204 runs. It was a pink-ball test, which tends to favor the fast bowler, and Mitchell Starc bowled a record-breaking spell. He recorded a test fifer off just 15 balls, which is a new record and took 6/9. Scott Boland also registered a hat trick. West Indies scored only 27 runs in 14.3 and suffered an embarrassing 176-run defeat.
1. New Zealand - 26 all out vs ENG in Auckland (1955)
New Zealand holds the embarrassing record for the lowest test total in history. All 11 batters managed a total of 26 runs. This was against England in 1955 in Auckland. New Zealand managed 200 runs in the first innings, and conceded a lead of 46 runs as England replied with 246.
Trailing by 46 runs, New Zealand looked to post a good total to make a match out of it. But not many thought of the batting collapse that New Zealand had. A total of 8 batters scored 1 or less, including five batters getting out on duck. The Black Caps scored 26 runs in 27 overs and lost the game badly to record this unwanted test score.