March 28, 1955 marks the biggest embarrassment of Test cricket as it witnessed the lowest total ever in the history of longest format of the game. On this day, New Zealand team were bundled out for a paltry 26 against England which remains the lowest score till date.
New Zealand were considered to be one of the minnows of cricket as they were nowhere in match of dominating cricketing nation like England and Australia. Ever since, Kiwis have come a long way and have now turned into a side not to be underestimated.
New Zealand were already trailing 0-1 in the two-Test series, losing the first Test at Dunedin by 8 wickets.
In the second match, New Zealand managed to restrict England to 246, however, the rebuttal was something which was never expected.
The England attacking unit were fierce and a force not to be reckoned with. The Kiwis were in trouble early in the first innings of the match after losing early wickets. But a fightback from Bert Sutcliffe (49) and John Reid (73) saw New Zealand post 200 on the board on day 1.
England fought on and posted 246 on the board, leading by 46 runs. In what could have been an easy path for New Zealand to take a strong lead, the Kiwis had no idea was in store the next day.
Running riot, England’s Bob Appleyard and Brian Statham wreaked havoc as the two pacers shared seven wickets and saw New Zealand collapse to score the lowest ever total in the history of Test cricket, 26 runs. Appleyard claimed four whereas Statham claimed three. It was only Bert Sutcliffe, who scored the most runs in the lowest total i.e., 11 runs. Four batsmen were dismissed for a duck in the innings.
12,000 in attendance, the hosts witnessed one of the darkest days in New Zealand cricket. Stunning the crowd and the players, England cruised past the Kiwis. England went on to win the Test match by an innings and 20 runs.
This total is still a record test low. Kiwi hopes were raised briefly in November 2011 when South Africa’s fearsome pace attack reduced Australia to 21 for 9 at Newlands, Cape Town. Unfortunately the last Australian pair boosted the total to 47. The next lowest test tallies remain two scores of 30 made by South Africa against England, in 1896 and 1924.
In the top five lowest scores in cricket, it is New Zealand at 26 runs, and the second, third, fourth and fifth spot are occupied by South Africa with scores of 30, 30, 35 and 36 respectively.
