On this day, 28 March 1955, England had bowled out New Zealand for 26 runs. This is the lowest Test cricket score ever in the history of the game and the lowest ever. In those days, New Zealand was considered a minor part of cricket as it did not have the facilities and skills at that time to take on the dominating countries like England and neighboring Australia. This was the second Test match of the Test series and the Kiwis were trailing 0–1.
In the second match, New Zealand restricted England to 246, however, the rebuttal was something that was never expected.
England’s invading unit was fierce and a force that could not be counted. The Kiwis were in trouble after losing early wickets in the first innings of the match. But fightbacks from Burt Sutcliffe (49) and John Reid (73) took New Zealand to a score of 200 on the first day.
Not a challenging total, but the wicket was in favor of the bowlers.
England fought back and scored 246 runs on the board, with a lead of 46 runs. What could have been an easy route for New Zealand to take a strong lead, the Kiwis had no idea what was in store the next day.
With riots going on, England’s Bob Appleyard and Brian Statham wreaked havoc as the two pacers shared seven wickets and saw New Zealand fall to the lowest score in Test cricket’s history of 26. Appleyard claimed four while 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 zero in the innings.
With 12,000 in attendance, the hosts witnessed one of the darkest days in New Zealand cricket. Shocking the crowd and the players, England overtook the Kiwis. England won the Test match by an innings and 20 runs.
Paul Ford, co-founder of the Kiwi cricket supporters’ group, told AFP that as a New Zealand fan, they would be grateful if someone could take away the unforgettable record from the Kiwis.
“It’s reprehensible, it’s embarrassing. It would be great if someone came along and scored 25 or less.”
Since then, New Zealand has improved and has now become a side that cannot be underestimated. The Kiwis gave England a taste of their medicine in 2018 when they thrashed England to 23/8 in a day-night Test in Auckland. It was the perfect opportunity to erase the record and bowl out England for the lowest total ever, but it was England’s tail that managed to save England from the lowest form of humiliation and pulled the visitors to 58.
In the top five lowest scores in cricket, it is New Zealand on 26 runs, and the second, third, fourth and fifth places are occupied by South Africa with scores of 30, 30, 35 and 36 respectively.
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