Opening the gates of T20Is to virtually all countries who play a bit of cricket has had predictable results, particularly in women’s cricket:
These lists of lowest totals are correct on Dec 8, 2019:
Women’s T20Is:
Note the single-digit and near single-digit scores by Mali and the Maldives in the past few months. The men’s T20I teams have fared slightly better:
Men’s T20Is:
Note that these sub-50 scores include entries from major teams such as the West Indies.
Are things any better with ODIs and Tests, which still have considerable entry barriers? :
Women’s ODIs:
Well-established women’s teams have had their share of low scores.
There are even some sub-50 scores in men’s ODIs, mainly from minnow teams who were out of their depths in World Cup matches:
Men’s ODIs:
Take the cases of Canada (twice) and Namibia above in World Cup matches.
For comparison, we look at Test matches. There have been very limited Tests in women’s cricket:
Women’s Tests:
Mainly from the earlier days. Both England and Australia recorded their lowest scores in the same Test in 1958.
Men’s Tests:
While the majority of these low scores are from the times when South Africa were the whipping boys, there are some from the past few years (Ireland’s 38 in 2019, Bangladesh’s 43 in 2018). Not to forget Australia’s 47 in 2011, which needed Siddle and Lyon to reach this total from 21/9. It had a chance of lowering the mark of 26 set in 1955.
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