SA vs SL: Sri Lanka bowled out for 42, their lowest score in Test cricket

Sri Lanka got bundled out for their lowest score in the history of Test cricket as they got all out for 42 on Day 2 of the first Test against South Africa in Durban.

SA vs SL: Sri Lanka bowled out for 42, their lowest score in Test cricket (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP)

Sri Lanka got bundled out for 42, their lowest score in the history of Test cricket, on Day 2 of the first Test against South Africa on Thursday, November 28 at Kingsmead, Durban. Marco Jansen was the destroyer in chief for the hosts as he registered his career best bowling figures of 7/13 in 6.5 overs helping his team clean up Sri Lanka in just 13.5 overs. South Africa took just 83 deliveries to bundle out Sri Lanka which is the lowest number of balls bowled to dismiss an opposition in Test cricket after South Africa were bowled out for 30 runs in just 75 balls against England in June, 1924.

Apart from Jansen, Gerland Coetzee (2/18) and Kagiso Rabada (1/10) were also amongst the wickets as Sri Lankan batters had no answers to their fiery pace. Kamindu Mendis (13) was the highest scorer for Sri Lanka, while apart from him, Lahiru Kumara (10* off 5) was the only other batter with a double-digit score. A total of five batters were dismissed for a duck as Sri Lanka broke the unwanted record of their lowest Test score ever, surpassing their previous lowest score of 71 which they scored against Pakistan in August 1994 in Kandy.

SA vs SL 1st Test Day 2 Live

It’s also the sixth-lowest total in the history of Test cricket as they joined Australia, New Zealand and India who’ve also been bundled out for 42 in their Test history. It was the lowest Test score. Kagiso Rabada drew first blood for South Africa as he got Dimuth Karunaratne caught in the slips while Jansen also began his mayhem from the other end, dismissing Pathum Nissanka for 3.

The left-arm seamer further dismissed Dinesh Chandimal (0)with a sharp in-swinger which sent his off-stump cartwheeling to the wicketkeeper. Jansen further got rid of Angelo Mathews (1), Dhananjaya de Silva (7), Prabath Jayasuriya (0), Vishwa Fernando (0) and Asitha Fernando (0) to register his best bowling figures in an innings and his second five-wicket haul. Earlier in the day, Sri Lanka bundled out South Africa for 191 in the first innings as Asitha Fernando (3/44) and Lahiru Kumara (3/70) picked up three wickets each.

Lowest totals for Sri Lanka in Test Cricket

42 vs SA, Durban, 2024

71 vs PAK, Kandy, 1994

73 vs PAK, Kandy, 2006

81 vs ENG, Colombo, 2001

82 vs IND, Chandigarh, 1990

82 vs ENG, Cardiff, 2011