Lowest First Innings Totals in Test Wins

Cricket is a game of margins they say and this is thanks to the unpredictable nature of the sport, especially Test cricket. The longest format of the game is played across 5 days and that’s a lot of time. Hence, there is a chance for a team who are down and out, to make a comeback in the Test and turn the tide, something which is not possible in white ball cricket (T20s and ODIs).

The nature of a comeback can be bouncing back from a mini-setback, be it after a collapse while batting or the opposition has scored a lot of runs. In both ways, Test cricket offers room for the side that is lagging to stage a counter-attack in more ways.

Here in this list, we will see how teams that have been bowled out for a meager score in their first innings turned things around to win that Test match.

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Lowest 1st Innings Team Totals to Win

Team	1st Inns Total	Against	Result	Venue	Date
England	45	Australia	ENG won by 13 runs	Sydney	1887
Australia	63	England	AUS won by 7 runs	The Oval	1882
England	75	Australia	ENG won by 94 runs	Melbourne	1894
England	76	South Africa	ENG won by 53 runs	Headingly	1907
England	85	Ireland	ENG won by 143 runs	Lord’s	2019
England	92	South Africa	ENG won by 210 runs	Cape Town	1899
Pakistan	99	England	PAK won by 71 runs	Dubai	2012
Pakistan	102	New Zealand	PAK won by 65 runs	Faisalabad	1990
India	104	Australia	IND won by 13 runs	Wankhede	2004
Australia	112	England	AUS won by 229 runs	Melbourne	1902

Key Stats

45 – The lowest recorded first innings score but yet was enough to secure a win for the side. It was England who won even after getting bowled for 45 in an Ashes Test match against Australia at Sydney in 1887. It is also the only time where a team gets bowled out for under 50 in the first innings earning a win.

34 – The number of times a team has won a Test match after being bowled out for 150 or less in their first innings. This number reduces to 16 when we take into account the first innings total to be 125 or less.

5 – England has had 5 wins in Test matches when they have been bowled out for less than 100 in their first innings. They won twice each against Australia and South Africa, while one of them came against Ireland. Australia and Pakistan are the only other sides to win a Test match after being bundled out for a sub-100 run total in the first innings.

6 – Australia have lost a Test match 6 times after bowling out their opposition under 125 in the first innings, with England coming in next with 4 instances.

Read the story on: When Pakistan Lost by an Innings After Scoring 500+ Runs!

Vijay Raman

An avid Cricket follower who likes to write on the gentleman's game