Today (Aug 9) Australia reached a new low in T20Is by being dismissed for 62 by Bangladesh, who had won the series 4-1.
T20I statistics have now become quite meaningless with the advent of a large number of weak teams. This listing includes only matches between Test teams (and totals with 8 or more wickets down):
You can see that this 62 is Australia’s lowest T20I score. India is slightly better with 74 (though that was long ago).
We have heard a lot about low Test scores in the last few days. Here we list the bowlers who were responsible.
Here we see the Lowest Test scores (40 and below, 8 or more wickets lost):
While the 35/8 in 1953 was not an all-out score, it probably would have been quite low if the match had lasted a few more overs before time ran out. India’s 36 had one batsman retired hurt.
Listing all the bowlers in these innings:
NZ 26 (Tyson 2-10, Statham 3-9, Wardle 1-0, Appleyard 4-7)
SA 30 (1896): (Lohmann 8-7, Bromley-Davenport 1-23, Hayward 1-0)
SA 30 (1924): (AER Gilligan 6-7, M Tate 4-12)
SA 35 (Haigh 6-11, AE Trott 4-19)
Aus 35/8 (Bedser 2-14, Laker 2-11, Wardle 4-7)
Aus 36 (Hirst 3-15, Rhodes 7-17, Braund 0-1)
SA 36 (Nash 4-18, McCabe 1-4, Ironmonger 5-6)
Ind 36 (Starc 0-7, Cummins 4-21, Hazlewood 5-8)
Ire 38 (Broad 4-19, Woakes 6-17)
Note that in some cases only 2 bowlers bowled through the innings.
Now we look at India’s lowest Test scores (75 or less, 8 or more wickets lost):
36 (Starc 0-7, Cummins 4-21, Hazlewood 5-8)
42 (Arnold 4-19, Old 5-21, Hendrick 0-2)
58 (1947) (Lindwall 2-11, Johnston 2-17, Miller 1-26, Toshack 5-2)
58 (1952) (Bedser 2-19, Trueman 8-31, Laker 0-7)
66 (Donald 4-14, SM Pollock 3-25, Klusener 2-16, McMillan 0-9)
67 (Lindwall 1-9, L Johnson 3-8, Loxton 1-10, Johnston 2-15, Ring 3-17)
75 (Patterson 5-24, WW Davis 3-20, W Benjamin 1-17, Walsh 1-13)
As we can see, India had the misfortune to run into the leading attacks of Australia, England and South Africa at various times.
The scores of 36 had the No 11 batsman retired hurt, and the 42 had one batsman absent hurt (though he was also No 11, so it should not have mattered much).
Toshack’s 5-2 is the best analysis by any bowler with 5 or more wickets in an innings. The next best is 6-3 by J Lawson vs Bangladesh in 2002. However, CA Walsh has taken 5-1 in an ODI.
L Johnson (Aus, 1948) was playing in his only Test.
Trueman’s 8-31 came in his 3rd Test and it remained his career-best analysis.
This is the sort of headline the British tabloids would have had when their team did badly at that venue. Surprising that no Indian publication used it after the “winter of ’36”.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/addlepated
Let us see where India’s Test victories in Australia have been. There were only 7 so far:
3 at Melbourne, 2 at Adelaide and 1 each at Perth and Sydney. None at Brisbane or the smaller venues.
Adelaide has had some high points for India, as in 2018 where India won the first Test of a series for the only time. And in 2003, when Agarkar recorded his only 5-for (in fact a 6-for).
Only a few days ago we noticed that Bangladesh had finally got a Test ranking (8th) higher than that of the West Indies (9th). It was therefore hoped that Bangladesh would be competitive in the 2-Test series in the West Indies starting on July 4.
That did not happen, as Bangladesh was dismissed for 43 before lunch on the first day of the series at North Point. The main wrecker was Kemar Roach (5-1-8-5 with an injured knee).
In the following tables I have considered 9 or 10 wickets down, to cover cases where teams batted one man short.
This is the lowest score by Bangladesh in all Tests:
It also has the lowest number of balls in any Test innings by Bangladesh (112), the next lowest being 152 for their 62-run effort in 2007.
It is also the lowest Test score by any side since 2000 ( the list shows scores below 75)
However, they lasted for 112 balls which is higher than that for Australia (108 balls for 47 in 2011) and 111 balls for 60 in 2015).
And you can see that 43 all out is fairly low down in the all-time Test lows (below 50). India was dismissed for 42 (one man absent) in 1974.
We also look at the all-time Test lows by balls faced (less than 120 balls):
The all-time low is 75 balls by SA for 30 all out in 1924. The NZ team which made 26 all out did survive for 162 balls and thus does not appear here. India’s record low of 102 balls for 42 can be seen here.
The Bangladesh team’s 112 balls is one more than Australia’s 111 balls for 60 in 2015 and 108 balls in 2011, which are the lowest in recent years.
Finally we look at the lowest scores in the first innings of the match (below 60);
Bangladesh’s 43 today is the 3rd lowest here, and the lowest since 1946.
Also note that England won after being dismissed for 45 in 1887.
And the lowest number of balls faced in the first innings of the match (below 120):
Here Bangladesh has survived for one ball more than Australia’s famous 60 in 2015, which is the record.
And the 43 is the lowest Test score in the West Indies:
As you know, 42 is significant because:
“The number 42 is, in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, ” Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything“, calculated by an enormous supercomputer named Deep Thought over a period of 7.5 million years. Unfortunately, no one knows what the question is.”
But this post is not about that. Not even the 1971 film “Summer of ’42”, which the older generation would remember as one of the more daring films of that period.
It is to remind you that exactly 42 years ago, Indian cricket touched its nadir with 42 all out at Lord’s:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/63126.html
Wisden’s match report:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/wisdenalmanack/content/story/152536.html
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