Saturday 🦂(December 19) will go down as one of the darkest days in the history of Indian cricket. The fans will forever remember it for a long time as on this day, Team India registered their lowest total in the history of Test cricket.
Indian batting collapsed in front of top-quality Australian bowling and could only post 36/9 in their second🍌 innings. The show ended when pacer Mohammed Shami was hit on the forearm by a short ball from Pat Cummins. Shami could not continue further, and the Indian innin🐬gs was wrapped up at 36 runs in 21.2 overs.
The hosts received the target of just 90 runs on the third day of the first Pink-Ball Test at Adelaide Oval. Aust♕ralia got to the🅷 mark after losing two wickets with Joe Burns reaching a half-century.
India’s earlier lowest score was 42 at the Lord’s which came way back in 1974 against England. This was also the lowest score in the history of Day/Night Tests and the joint fifth lowest overall.
The only relieving thing for Indian fans was that at one stage, the Virat Kohli and Co. were reduced to 26/8 and looked like they might equal the lowest ever Test score but Hanuma Vihari’s boundary helped the visitors to avoid that major embarrassment.
Not a single Indian batsman was able to reach double figures as the pace duo of Josh Hazlewood (5-3-8-5) and Cummins (10.2-4-21-4), destroyed the to♊urists with top-o🍒f-the-line bowling.
10 Lowest totals in Test cricket
- 26 – NZ v ENG, Auckland, 1955
- 30 – SA v ENG, Port Elizabeth, 1896
- 30 – SA v ENG, Birmingham, 1924
- 35 – SA v ENG, Cape Town, 1899
- 36 – SA v AUS, Melbourne, 1932
- 36 – AUS v ENG, Birmingham, 1902
- 36 – IND v AUS, Adelaide, 2020*
- 38 – IRE v ENG, Lords, 2019
- 42 – NZ v AUS, Wellington, 1946
- 42 – AUS v ENG, Sydney, 1888
This was also only the second instance when all 11 batsmen of a side failed to reach the double figures in Test cricket. Previously, England had dismissed South Africa for 30 runs in 1924 with the top-scoring batsman for the Proteas was Herbie Taylor (7).
Coming back to the Adelaide Test, it was the first time since 1955 where all ten partnerships were in sin♏gle digits. Not only that but also it was the lowest score by any team in 65 years.
India’s lowest totals in Test cricket
- 36 v Australia, Adelaide, 2020*
- 42 v England, Lords, 1974
- 58 v Australia, Brisbane 1947
- 58 v England, Manchester, 1952
- 66 v South Africa, Durban, 1996
- 67 v Australia, Melbourne, 1948
- 75 v West Indies, Delhi, 1987
- 76 v South Africa, Ahmedabad, 2008
- 81 v West Indies, Bridgetown, 1997
- 81 v New Zealand, Wellington, 1976
