Test cricket has to its name some of the craziest records which might or not might bring pride to a cricketing nation. One such day was June 20, 1958, for New Zealand, a day which the players of the Kiwis would have worked very hard to forget. On this day the New Zealand side was dismissed by rivals England for a mere 74 runs. After being given the follow-on, they were then reduced to 47 runs as the match was wrapped up by the English players in 12 hours.
This match took place during the New Zealand team's tour of England for a five-match Test series. The Kiwis had already lost the first match, and the second one was played at the Lord's ground. Peter May, the captain of England at that time, won the toss and elected to bat first, with his side scoring 269 runs in the first innings. Colin Cowdrey scored a brilliant fifty, finishing his innings with 65 runs to his name.
But, apart from Colin, none of the other England batters were able to score big. Meanwhile, Johnny Hayes, and Tony McGibbon took four wickets each for New Zealand.
When New Zealand came to bat after bowling England out, none of the Kiwi batters could play on the pitch of the Lord's. In the first innings, four of the batters were dismissed for ducks, while Bert Sutcliffe could only make 18 runs for New Zealand. The side's poor batting display kept the side to only 47 runs. For England, Tony Lock took five wickets for 17 runs in 11.3 overs.
On day 3 of the Test, the New Zealand batters faltered again. This time around, the whole batting order were reduced to 74 runs. Three of the Kiwi batters were dismissed for zero while six batters were unable to even cross the double-figure mark. Two batters John D'Arcy (33) and Johnny Hayes (14) could score only a few runs. It was Tony Lock who shone for England with the ball once again, taking four wickets, and finished the match with a total of nine wickets under his belt.
This Test match started on June 19 and ended on June 21. However, New Zealand could not make a comeback in the series as well and England won the five-match Test series 4-0. The last test match ended in a draw.
