Tracking the lowest Test totals at Kingsmead in Durban

Jonhenry Wilson 07 Dec 2024

Sri Lanka were entirely outplayed by South Africa at Kingsmead in Durban.

The Test match between South Africa and Sri Lanka at Kingsmead in Durban has seen plenty of wickets. With play on day one curtailed due to rain, when the action resumed on day two the Proteas struggled to 191 before they were all out – the only man to provide serious resistance was skipper Temba Bavuma.

The real action started when Sri Lanka, who had won the toss and elected to field, came out to bat. Not known for their love of fast, bouncy wickets the tourists have come a long way in recent times in combatting this weakness. But the South African attack, spearheaded by number one Test bowler Kagiso Rabada and his giant opening partner Marco Jansen ripped through the Sri Lankan lineup.

With the bowlers well supported by the slip cordon Sri Lanka were dismissed for an astounding 42 with Jansen returning figures of 7/13.

But how does the Sri Lanka effort stack up against other low Kingsmead scores? Here’s a quick look at the five lowest completed Test innings in Durban.

1. Sri Lanka – 42 all out after 13.5 overs, 2024

An astounding performance that set all sorts of records. Not just the lowest ever score at the famous Kingsmead ground, it was also Sri Lanka’s lowest ever Test score – their previous lowest was 71.

And while the wicket certainly offered the bowlers a degree of assistance, it wasn’t a 42 all out kind of track. South African paceman Marco Jansen returned career best figures of seven for 13 as the Sri Lankan batsmen offered no opposition at all.

2. Bangladesh – 53 all out after 19 overs, 2022

While Sri Lanka were torn apart by sensational quick bowling, Bangladesh’s collapse was a fourth innings failure engineered by the South African spinners.

As the wicket started to take turn, Proteas skipper Dean Elgar opened the bowling with his spinners, Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer. Just 19 overs later and it was all done. A Test win for South Africa and incredible figures of seven for 32 for Maharaj. South Africa won by 220 runs.

3. India – 66 all out after 34.1 overs, 1996

This was a very good India team. The openers will never go down as greats – Wookeri Raman and Vikram Rathour. But the middle order was the stuff of legend featuring Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Azharuddin.

The Proteas though featured a phenomenal bowling attack back then as well. Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock opened an attack that also featured Lance Klusener and Brian McMillan. Having dismissed India for 100 in the first innings, they were even more fearsome in the second as Donald took the first three wickets before the score reached double figures. Pollock and Klusener then got in on the action as South Africa went on to win by 328 runs.

4. Australia – 75 all out after 28.4 overs, 1950

This one goes all the way back to 1950 and a game that features the fourth and fifth lowest ever scores at the ground. Modern fans won’t recognize many of the names that featured in this Test where Australia made 75 in their first innings and South Africa 99 in their second. This was a spinners’ track with leg spinner Hugh Tayfield and Tufty Mann doing the damage.

For Australia it was spin duo of Bill Johnston and Ian Johnson who did the damage, but Australia needed plenty of fourth innings runs to win the game. The legendary Neil Harvey was the man who got the job done as he stroked his way to an undefeated 151 to secure a five wicket win for his side.