Cricket is a sport filled with glorious centuries and record-breaking partnerships – but now and then, you come across one of the great collapses. And one of those collective sense-punchers is ODI’s lowest totals, by which the human entirety of two teams are dismissed for scores that more closely resemble a T20 powerplay.
Well then, what is the lowest ODI score ever in cricket? Which are the teams that have had more batting collapses that has been humiliating? Well, let’s dig into it all with facts, context and a full table of the lowest ODI team scores in history.
What Is the Lowest Score in ODI Cricket?
35 runs (1987-1990) The 35 is shared by:
- Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka (2004)
- USA vs Nepal (2020)
Both sides were bowled out for a paltry figure, an unwanted world record which still remains unbroken.
It’s these matches that demonstrate just how deadly a spell of bowling, the wrong shot selection or a pressure situation can be in taking an entire batting lineup apart.
Top 15 ODI Lowest Score in Cricket History
| Match Date | Team | Score | Overs | RR | Vs | Venue | Result |
| 25 Apr 2004 | Zimbabwe | 35 | 18 | 1.94 | v Sri Lanka | Harare | Lost |
| 12 Feb 2020 | U.S.A. | 35 | 12 | 2.91 | v Nepal | Kirtipur | Lost |
| 19 Feb 2003 | Canada | 36 | 18.4 | 1.92 | v Sri Lanka | Paarl | Lost |
| 8 Dec 2001 | Zimbabwe | 38 | 15.4 | 2.42 | v Sri Lanka | Colombo (SSC) | Lost |
| 11 Jan 2012 | Sri Lanka | 43 | 20.1 | 2.13 | v South Africa | Paarl | Lost |
| 25 Feb 1993 | Pakistan | 43 | 19.5 | 2.16 | v West Indies | Cape Town | Lost |
| 3 Nov 2009 | Zimbabwe | 44 | 24.5 | 1.77 | v Bangladesh | Chattogram | Lost |
| 13 Jun 1979 | Canada | 45 | 40.3 | 1.11 | v England | Manchester | Lost |
| 27 Feb 2003 | Namibia | 45 | 14 | 3.21 | v Australia | Potchefstroom | Lost |
| 3 Nov 2025 | U.A.E. | 49 | 22.1 | 2.21 | v U.S.A. | Dubai (DICS) | Lost |
| 17 Sep 2023 | Sri Lanka | 50 | 15.2 | 3.26 | v India | Colombo (RPS) | Lost |
| 29 Oct 2000 | India | 54 | 26.3 | 2.03 | v Sri Lanka | Sharjah | Lost |
| 25 Jan 2004 | West Indies | 54 | 23.2 | 2.31 | v South Africa | Cape Town | Lost |
| 19 Dec 2024 | Zimbabwe | 54 | 17.5 | 3.02 | v Afghanistan | Harare | Lost |
| 26 Feb 2017 | Zimbabwe | 54 | 13.5 | 3.9 | v Afghanistan | Harare | Lost |
Teams With the Most Appearances in ODI Lowest Scores
A few teams have the misfortune of featuring more than once in the ODI lowest score list:
- Zimbabwe – Most common name, appears six times
- Sri Lanka – Several unexpected collapses despite being a strong cricketing nation
- Bangladesh – Famed for its spectacular batting collapse in the formative years
This is the sort of indicator that even seasoned international sides can suffer really bad days.
Lowest ODI Score by Big Cricket Nations
Below are some of the most surprising lows suffered by top teams:
- India: 54 vs Sri Lanka (2000)
- Pakistan: 43 vs West Indies (1993)
- Sri Lanka: 43 vs South Africa (2012)
- West Indies: 54 against South Africa (2004)
These collapses usually occurred on difficult pitches against some top-class deliveries.
Why Do Such Low Scores Happen in ODIs?
There are many reasons there are low ODI scores:
- Best Bowling Spells – Whether it was Swing or Seam or Spin conducive conditions
- Batting Pressure – Chasing small but tricky totals
- Bad Shot Selection – Aggressive yet with no purpose
- Losing of Confidence – a wicket was falling to other.
- Inexperienced Lineups – Standard in associate nations
It takes only one bad session to rewrite history – for the wrong reasons.
Can the ODI Lowest Score Record Be Broken?
Cricket has moved on, and records are there to be surpassed. Given the increasing number of associate teams playing ODIs and helpful conditions for bowlers, the ODI lowest score record of 35 minutes might just continue to be threatened.
That said, however, bat deep batting and analytics should not allow such crumblings to be common – but they are never impossible.
Final Thoughts
The ODI lowest score records are a throwback to the game of cricket and its whimsicality. One day a team scores more than 400; the next, they get bowled out for less than 50. Painful they may be for fans, yet these are moments that are etched into the history books of cricket till the end of time.
And whether you’re stats crazy, a cricket tragic, or just someone who likes hard and fast numbers, these records teach us the brutal beauty of this game – where glory is mere blocks away from heartbreak.
