10 Shocking Lowest Score in ODI Cricket History

On number 10 is South Africa’s brilliant bowling performance in the 1^st ODI of Windies’ 2003-04 South African tour. South African legend, Jacques Kallis played a magnificent knock of 109* (94) and helped his team register a decent total of 263/4 (50 overs). The star-studded batting line-up of West Indies, with quality batsmen like Brian Lara, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul was humiliated by a power packed South African bowling performance. The Windies were all out for just 54 in 23.2 overs only as Makhaya Ntini and Lance Klusener picked 3 wickets each. South Africa put a complete team effort and won the match comfortably by 209 runs.

The important final of Coca-Cola Champions Trophy 2000 witnessed the Indian batting being dismantled by an unbelievable bowling effort by Sri Lanka at Sharjah, UAE. Sri Lanka scored a huge total of 299/5, thanks to Sanath Jayasuriya’s historic innings of 189 (161). The star Indian batting lineup of Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj and Dravid couldn’t handle the the Lankan lions’ pressure. They were dismissed for only 54 in their 26.3 overs. The all-time favourite Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaas bowled a magical spell of 5/14 (9.3 overs) as Sri Lanka defeated India by a monstrous margin of 245 runs. Former Indian all-rounder Robin Singh was the only person to score in double figures (11 runs off 38 balls).

In a pool game of ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, Australia crashed the first-timers Namibia by bowling them out for a mere total of 45 in just 14 overs! This till date is the shortest ODI innings by a team has getting all out. Australia had put up a great total of 301/6 (50 overs) in the first innings. The minnows of Africa couldn’t find an answer to Australian pacer Glenn McGrath’s pace and bounce as he picked up his career-best figures of 7/15 (7 overs). McGrath’s unimaginable spell is till date the best bowling performance in a World Cup match. As expected, the Australian team thrashed Namibia by a mammoth margin of 256 runs, which is the 7^th largest win (in terms of runs).

On number 7 is Canada’s 45/10 against England in the group stage match of World Cup 1979 at Manchester. Canada took 40 overs to reach a total of 45, at a disgusting run rate of 1.11. The pick of the bowlers were English Fast bowlers Bob Willis and Chris Old as both of them picked 4 wickets each. The highest score in Canada’s innings was by Franklyn Dennis who took 100 balls for his slowly paced 21. England won the match quite convincingly by 8 wickets and 277 balls remaining. This is till date the biggest win in ODI in terms of balls remaining (in a 60-over match).

Next is Zimbabwe’s poor batting display in the 4^th ODI of Zimbabwe’s tour of Bangladesh in 2009. Shakib Al Hasan, one of the world’s best all-rounders in ODI cricket, showed his class  as he bowled a magical spell of 3/8 (6.5 overs). Only two Zimbabwean batsmen were able to enter in to the double figures mark. Although Zimbabwe gave a good fight with the ball by picking up 4 early wickets, the score they had to defend was negligible. Bangladesh won the match by 6 wickets with 229 balls to spare as Bangladesh chased down the total in just 11.5 overs.

On number 5 is Pakistan’s below par batting performance in the 9^th Total International Series 1993 as the Windies demolished them by ending their innings in just 19.5 overs. Pakistan were all out for 43, courtesy West Indian fast bowler Courtney Walsh’s an incredible bowling performance. Walsh bowled a superb spell of fast bowling with figures of 4/16 (9 overs) and was rightly adjudged “Man of the Match”. Six of the 11 batsmen of Pakistan got out for a duck, which is till date the highest number of ducks in an ODI innings. West Indies won the match comfortably by 7 wickets and 225 balls remaining.

On 11^th January 2012, South Africa made a joke out of Sri Lankan batting with star batsmen like Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Angelo Matthews. South Africa batted first and scored a competitive total of 301/8 because of Hashim Amla’s amazing knock of 112 (128). Sri Lanka fell prey to Proteas’ lethal fast bowling as Morne Morkel bowled a clinical spell of 4/10 in his 6 overs. This is Sri Lanka’s lowest score in ODI till date. South Africa won the match by a gigantic margin of 258 runs, as Sri Lanka registered their biggest loss in ODIs.

In the historic 1^st ODI of LG Abans Tri-Series 2001, Zimbabwe registered the then lowest ODI score of 38 in just 15.4 overs. World cricket witnessed the best spell of ODI cricket ever as Sri Lanka’s seamer Chaminda Vaas became the first bowler in the history of cricket to pick up 8 wickets in an ODI. Chaminda’s 8/19 in 8 overs till date is the best bowling spell in ODI cricket. Zimbabwe were beaten all ends up by an amazing bowling performance by Sri Lanka and lost the game by 9 wickets. Sri Lanka chased down Zimbabwe’s mini-target of 39 in just 4.2 overs (26 balls) with 274 balls remaining. This is still the biggest victory in terms of balls remaining in a 50-over ODI match.

Sri Lanka delivered yet another unbelievable bowling performance by dismissing the entire Canadian team for a mere 36. This incredible incident happened in a group stage match of 2003 Cricket World Cup. Sri Lankan Prabhat Nisanka was the pick of the bowlers for his impressive spell of 4/12 (7 overs). Six of the eleven Canadian batsmen returned for a duck. As a result, they equalled Pakistan’s record for the most number of ducks in an ODI innings. This was the first instance in ODI cricket when not one batsman was able to enter double digits. Sri Lanka chased down the target of 37 in just 4.4 overs (28 balls) by winning the game by 9 wickets and 272 balls to spare. This is the 2^nd biggest win in ODI cricket in terms of balls remaining.

Zimbabwe holds the record for the lowest team score in ODI for their 35/10in 2004 at Harare. Sri Lanka again showcased an extremely dominating bowling performance by dismissing the entire Zimbabwean batting in just 18 overs. Chaminda Vaas was again the star bowler with a spell of 4/11 (9 overs) at a phenomenal 1.22 economy. Four Zimbabwean fell for a duck and none of the batsmen was able to reach a double figures score. Sri Lanka won the match convincingly by 9 wickets and 244 balls remaining.