Top 20 Lowest Scores in ODI Cricket History (All Teams & Records)

The lowest score in ODI cricket history has tended to shock both fans and players,

The record is just 35 runs, which is very difficult to imagine in an ODI game.

In this paper, we tabulate the lowest scores in ODI history, the top 20 team scores that represent the extreme lows of ODI cricket. Since India’s Lowest Score in ODI matches and its history of collapsing in the World Cup, we will examine these records, as well as the circumstances surrounding them.

Complete List – Top 20 Lowest Scores in ODI History

The full list of the 20 lowest team scores in ODI history, including those of Test-playing countries and associate nations, is listed below.

Having seen this list, one can easily conclude that the lowest scores in ODI cricket are consistently recorded across time and against various opponents. Zimbabwe and the USA jointly hold the world record for the world’s Lowest Score in ODI history at just 35 runs.

It is interesting to note that a number of its entries are associated with teams such as Canada, Namibia, and the U.S.A., as well as full-member sides on bad days.

India’s Lowest Score in ODI Matches

India’s Lowest Score in ODI history is 54 runs, scored against the match with Sri Lanka at Sharjah in October 2000. This was the famous last over of the 2000 Champions Trophy (Sharjah), and India was tossed out of the match at 54 in only 26.3 overs after having to chase 299.

The bowlers of Sri Lanka, led by Chaminda Vaas (5/14) and Muttiah Muralitharan exploited the conducive conditions and a pressure situation and decimated the Indian batting. Sanath Jayasuriya had previously taken 189 runs that offered a huge target and possibly burdened the Indian lineup.

Under floodlights, wickets fell rapidly – the Indian team’s lowest score in ODI cricket was sealed when they lost by 245 runs, a staggering margin.

#CricketTwitter #INDvsAUS

Lowest score by IND in ODI cricket is 54 runs, which they were bowled out for against Sri Lanka in 2000, Sharjah, UAE. India’s innings lasted just 26.3 overs. Sri Lanka won the match by 245 runs, the largest margin of victory (by runs) in ODI history.

— BeingX (@TheTweetMaven) March 19, 2023

India also had a couple of 78-run all-outs in the 1980s. But that 54-run collapse remains the lowest score India has scored in ODI international cricket to date.

SUGGESTED READ: India’s Lowest T20 Score Revealed

Pakistan Lowest Score in ODI history

Pakistan’s lowest ODI score is 43, made against the West Indies at Cape Town in 1993. In that triangular tournament match, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh decimated the lineup, with Walsh taking 4/16 as Pakistan fell in 19.5 overs.

Extras (16 runs) nearly outscored the top batsmen, and West Indies chased the 44-run target in just 12.3 overs. Even in World Cups, Pakistan has never scored lower, with their worst being 74 vs England in 1992.

That 43-run collapse remains infamous—a reminder that even strong teams can crumble under pressure against world-class bowling.

Australia, England & New Zealand’s Lowest ODI Totals

Even cricket’s traditional powerhouses have had disastrous innings. Let’s look at some major team collapses:

Australia — 70

Australia’s lowest ODI total, 70, occurred twice: against England in 1977 and New Zealand in 1986.

In 1986, Sir Richard Hadlee’s swing and seam (5 wickets) blew Australia away for 70.

England — 86

England’s lowest ODI total is 86 runs, against Australia at Old Trafford in 2001. Under evening conditions with the white ball seaming, Glenn McGrath and Jason Gillespie produced a lethal spell.

McGrath’s mastery under lights made the ball talk, and England’s batting looked shell-shocked. Other low points for England include 88 all out (vs Sri Lanka, Dambulla 2003).

New Zealand — 64

New Zealand’s Lowest Score in ODI history is 64 runs, against Pakistan in Sharjah in 1986. This match was a semi-final of the Austral-Asia Cup, and the Kiwi batting was dismantled by Pakistan’s bowlers (led by Wasim Akram and Abdul Qadir). New Zealand also has two instances of 73 and 74 all out in their records.

Such an NZ lowest score in ODI came as a shock at the time, as New Zealand had a decent batting side. It highlights how a charged-up bowling unit (Pakistan in the 80s) could inflict even the lowest cricket score in ODI on a bad day for the batting side.

Lowest Score in ODI World Cup History

ODI World Cups have seen their fair share of batting debacles, often when weaker teams face giants. The Lowest Score in ODI World Cup history is 36 runs, by Canada against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup.

In that group match in 2003, Canada were dismantled for 36 in Paarl. Sri Lankan pacers Chaminda Vaas and Prabath Nissanka ran riot (Vaas took 3 wickets in his first over, including a hat-trick earlier in the tournament, though against a different team), and Canada’s innings was wrapped up in 18.4 overs.

Other World Cup collapses include Namibia’s 45 all out against Australia in 2003.

In that match, Aussie legend Glenn McGrath returned figures of 7/15, and Namibia crumbled in 14 overs. This 45 is the second-lowest total in World Cup history.

Another interesting instance was Kenya’s 69 against New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup (in Chennai), which highlights how Associate countries have frequently struggled to compete with the best bowling in World Cups.

Even established teams have had low World Cup scores: Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 by West Indies in the 2011 World Cup (in Dhaka), silencing a home crowd and marking the lowest score in that tournament by a Full Member.

The lowest score in the World Cup ODI 2023 was 90 all out by the Netherlands against Australia, which is nowhere near the all-time record. Although it serves as a sobering reminder that collapses can still occur in the age of batting-friendly conditions.

Meanwhile, in World Cup knockout matches, teams usually perform better, but there’s one exception: the lowest score in an ODI World Cup final is 132, by Pakistan in the 1999 final at Lord’s. Australia’s bowlers (Shane Warne took 4/33) spun out Pakistan for 132, giving Australia a facile win.

Lowest ODI Scores by Other Nations

In addition to the teams mentioned above, other nations have also scored very low on the ODI. We mention here some striking totals of other leading cricketing countries:

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s Lowest Score in ODI history is 43 runs, which came against South Africa in 2012 at Paarl. In that match, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel wreaked havoc and bowled Sri Lanka out for 43 in 20 overs.

South Africa

SA’s lowest score in odi team total is 69 runs, against Australia in 1993 at Sydney.

Lowest total by South Africa in ODIs

69 vs Australia, Sydney, 1993
83 vs England, Nottingham, 2008
83 vs England, Manchester, 2022
83 vs India, Kolkata, 2023, World Cup
99 vs India, Delhi, 2022
101 vs Pakistan, Sharjah, 2000,
106 vs Australia, Sydney, 2002
106 vs Afghanistan,… pic.twitter.com/bZpo8mU0nF

— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) September 19, 2024

Being bowled out for 69 was a humbling experience for the Proteas, and it stands as SA Lowest Score in ODI history. (Notably, this was in December 1993, shortly after their readmission to international cricket, so the team was still finding its feet.)

Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s lowest ODI score is 58, recorded twice at Mirpur: against West Indies in the 2011 World Cup and against India in 2014.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan’s lowest ODI score is 58, recorded against Zimbabwe in 2016 in Sharjah, when they were bowled out in 18.4 overs.

West Indies

The lowest score in an ODI by the West Indies was 54 runs, against South Africa at Cape Town in 2004. This was a historic trilogy in which the pace attack of South Africa (Shaun Pollock, Makhaya Ntini, Andre Nel) absolutely devastated the Windies.

Additionally, the West Indies were bowled out for 61 by Bangladesh in 2011 (Chattogram) and for 70 by Australia in 2013.

Lowest Score Defended in ODI Cricket

In ODI history, the Lowest Score Defended in ODI (full 50-over match) was 125 runs – a record that stood for decades.

This famous game was India vs Pakistan in Sharjah, 1985. India batted first and were all out for 125 (thanks largely to Imran Khan’s 6/14 for Pakistan). It seemed like a lost cause, but India’s bowlers fought back furiously and bundled Pakistan out for 87, giving India a 38-run win.

Surprisingly, in 2023, the USA cricket team set a record and defended a total of 122 runs against Oman. During a match in World Cup League 2 in Al Amerat, USA defeated Oman by 57 runs, having scored 122 and then bowled Oman out on 65.

Aside from the record low, there have been other memorable defenses of low scores. For instance, England famously faltered while chasing 134 against Zimbabwe in the 1992 World Cup (Zimbabwe won by 9 runs), and the West Indies once defended 146 against Australia in 1984.

Special Records – Powerplay and Asia Cup Collapses

The two special categories to be considered are the failures of Powerplay and major tournament failures, such as the one at the Asia Cup.

• Lowest Powerplay Score in ODI: Lowest Powerplay ODI scores include 14/6 by Sri Lanka vs India (2023), 14/2 by Pakistan vs Zimbabwe (2015), and 14/3 by Canada vs Zimbabwe (2011)
• Asia Cup Collapses: Sri Lanka’s 50 all out against India in the 2023 Asia Cup is the lowest ODI score in Asia Cup history, surpassing Bangladesh’s 87 vs Pakistan in 2000.
• Another Asian side, Pakistan, also registered one of the lowest powerplay scores in ODI history outside of World Cups – in a 2023 ODI, Pakistan crawled to 15/0 in 10 overs against Afghanistan on a slow pitch.

Amit Mishra’s POV: Are Low ODI Scores Becoming Rarer?

As someone who has followed ODI cricket closely, the lowest scores always grab my attention because they’re such wild reminders of how unpredictable the game can be.

I still can’t wrap my head around the record low of 35 runs, shared by Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in 2004 and the USA against Nepal in 2020—it’s almost unbelievable that a team can be bowled out so cheaply. I’ve seen giants like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Australia crumble too: India’s 54 against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 2000, Pakistan’s 43 versus West Indies in 1993, and Australia’s 70 against England and New Zealand are moments that stay etched in my memory.

Even in World Cups, associate teams like Canada and Namibia have faced humiliating collapses, and more recently, Sri Lanka’s 50 against India in the 2023 Asia Cup showed that no one is immune. Watching these innings reminds me why I love cricket—any day, a perfect spell or a few bad shots can make history.

YOU MIGHT READ: Lowest Score in Test Cricket & India’s Lowest Total

FAQs on Lowest Score in ODI

• What is the Lowest Score in ODI history?
  The lowest team score in ODI history is 35 runs. This is shared with Zimbabwe (35 all out against Sri Lanka in 2004) and the USA (35 all out against Nepal in 2020).
• Which team holds the record for the Lowest Score in the ODI World Cup?
  Canada holds the record for the most all-out dismissals, with 36 against Sri Lanka in the 2003 ICC World Cup. The second lowest is 45 by Namibia vs Australia (2003).
• What is India’s lowest ODI score?
  India’s lowest score in ODI cricket, 54 runs, which it achieved against Sri Lanka at Sharjah in October 2000.
• Has any team defended a total under 100 runs in ODI cricket?
  No – in full-length ODIs, no team has ever defended a target below 100. The Lowest Score Defended in ODI history is 122 runs (USA defended 122 vs Oman in 2023).
• What is the lowest score in Asia Cup ODI matches?
  Sri Lanka became the 2023 Asia Cup final losers by 50 points against India, securing the lowest score of any team in an Asia Cup ODI.
• What is the lowest score in the ODI World Cup 2023?
  The lowest team score recorded in the 2023 ICC ODI Cricket World Cup was 55 runs. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 55 against India on 2 November 2023 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.