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Lowest Score In Test Cricket: Sri Lanka's 5 Forgettable Totals In Red-Ball Format

Aakash Saini

5 lowest totals by Sri Lanka in Test cricket [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/x]5 lowest totals by Sri Lanka in Test cricket [Source: @CricCrazyJohns/x]

Sri Lanka, traditionally a spin-heavy team in Test cricket, also boasts a strong lineage of some of the greatest batters the game has ever seen. The heavy artillery of explosive batters from the island nations once amassed 952-6d against India to record Test cricket’s highest-ever total, doing so back in 1997.

However, as cricket goes, the Sri Lankan team has experienced its fair share of turbulence, even in their batting department. Following their recent debacle in Durban against South Africa, we take a look at five of their worst batting performances in Test cricket.

5 Lowest Test Totals By Sri Lanka:

5. Sri Lanka 82 all out vs India, 1990

Under the leadership of Arjuna Ranatunga, a future World Cup winning skipper, Sri Lanka toured India for a one-off Test match in November 1990. After bowlers collectively folded up India’s star-studded line-up for 288, the visitors squandered away their entire advantage by getting all out for 82 in 51.5 overs. It is worth noting that unbeaten number three batter Asanka Gurusinha himself accounted for 52 of those runs, while opener Athula Samarasekera chipped in with a 13 at the top.

No other Sri Lankan batter managed to outscore Aravinda de Silva’s mere five-run effort, with as many as five players falling for ducks and two other batters managing a run each. Despite conjuring an improved batting performance in the second gig (198 all out), Ranatunga and co. fell short of the hosts by an innings and eight runs.

4. Sri Lanka 81 all out vs England, 2001

On a spin-friendly home surface at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground in Colombo, Sri Lankan batters were ‘out-spun’ by visiting English tweakers Ashley Giles (4-11) and Robert Croft (1-18). Up against an eight-run deficit at the halfway stage of the series-deciding third Test match in March 2001, Sanath Jayasuriya and co. managed to gather just 81 runs in 28.1 overs. Captain Jayasuriya and number four Aravinda de Silva themselves chipped in with 23 runs each, while the rest of the nine batters collectively managed the remaining 35 runs together.

As it panned out, Sri Lanka lost the match by four wickets to concede the three-match series to England by a 1-2 margin.

3. Sri Lanka 73 all out vs Pakistan, 2006

In the final Test of the two-match series against Pakistan in Kandy back in April 2006, hosts Sri Lanka started off with a confident 279, and gained a 109-run lead over the visitors at the halfway stage of the match. However, the entire Sri Lankan line-up was blown away by Mohammad Asif (5-27) and Abdul Razzaq (4-20) in the second innings to get enveloped for just 73 in 24.5 overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya’s absence did not helped Sri Lanka’s cause either, as their dismal show featured as many as four bare minimum double-digit scores, with not a single batter managing to record a comprehensive start. Pakistan chased down their 183-run target in the fourth innings to seal the Test and the series by a 1-0 margin.

2. Sri Lanka 71 all out vs Pakistan, 1994

Sri Lanka folded up for just 71 inside the first 29 overs of the match against Pakistan back in August 1994 at Kandy’s Asgiriya Stadium. Pakistan’s new ball operators and legendary pacers Wasim Akram (4-32) and Waqar Younis (6-34) shouldered the entire bowling workload of the innings, to consign Sri Lanka to their lowest-ever Test total at home at the time.

Captain Arjuna Ranatunga registered a sluggish 10-ball duck as Sri Lanka crashed to an innings defeat to concede the two-match series 0-2 to Saleem Malik’s visiting drawcards.

1. Sri Lanka 42 all out vs South Africa, 2024

Nearly an hour was all it took for South Africa’s pace trio of Kagiso Rabada (1-10), Marco Jansen (7-13) and Gerald Coetzee (2-18) to skittle out the visiting Sri Lankans for just 42 in 13.5 overs at the Kingsmead Cricket Ground in November 2024. As many as five batters failed to open their accounts, while Kamindu Mendis and Lahiru Kumara collectively accrued 23 runs from the overall total.

Sri Lanka’s dreadful batting hour in Durban not only marked their lowest-ever team total in Test cricket, but also the joint-ninth lowest in the history of the 147-year-old format overall. Moreover, Sri Lanka’s 42-run effort is now the third lowest Test total by any team in the 21st century.