The lowest score in ODI cricket is 35, and two teams share it. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 35 by Sri Lanka at Harare on 25 April 2004, and the United States were bowled out for 35 by Nepal at Kirtipur on 12 February 2020.

No side has gone lower in the two decades since Zimbabwe set the mark, and only two other completed innings in ODI history have finished under 40.

Lowest scores in ODI cricket

Team Score Overs Opposition Ground Date
Zimbabwe 35 18.0 Sri Lanka Harare 25 Apr 2004
USA 35 12.0 Nepal Kirtipur 12 Feb 2020
Canada 36 18.4 Sri Lanka Paarl 19 Feb 2003
Zimbabwe 38 15.4 Sri Lanka Colombo 8 Dec 2001
Pakistan 43 19.5 West Indies Cape Town 25 Feb 1993
Sri Lanka 43 20.1 South Africa Paarl 11 Jan 2012
Zimbabwe 44 24.5 Bangladesh Chattogram 3 Nov 2009
Canada 45 40.3 England Manchester 13 Jun 1979
Namibia 45 14.0 Australia Potchefstroom 27 Feb 2003
UAE 49 22.1 USA Dubai 3 Nov 2025
Sri Lanka 50 15.2 India Colombo 17 Sep 2023
India 54 26.3 Sri Lanka Sharjah 29 Oct 2000
West Indies 54 23.2 South Africa Cape Town 25 Jan 2004
Zimbabwe 54 13.5 Afghanistan Harare 26 Feb 2017
Zimbabwe 54 17.5 Afghanistan Harare 19 Dec 2024
Sri Lanka 55 19.4 India Wankhede 2 Nov 2023

Completed innings only, from ESPNcricinfo Statsguru. Figures to 31 August 2026.

Zimbabwe 35 v Sri Lanka, Harare, 2004

Sri Lanka bowled first and needed 18 overs. Chaminda Vaas took 4 for 11 from nine overs, four of them maidens, and Farveez Maharoof 3 for 3 from three. Not one Zimbabwe batter reached double figures; Dion Ebrahim’s seven was the top score. Sri Lanka knocked the runs off in 9.2 overs and won by nine wickets.

USA 35 v Nepal, Kirtipur, 2020

Sixteen years later the record was equalled rather than broken, and it took 12 overs. Sandeep Lamichhane took 6 for 16 and Sushan Bhari 4 for 5 — the two of them shared all ten wickets. Xavier Marshall’s 16 off 22 balls was more than the rest of the side managed between them. Nepal chased it in 5.2 overs.

Batting pads, gloves and a bat left on a bench in an empty cricket dressing room

Canada 36 v Sri Lanka, Paarl, 2003

Canada held the record for a little over a year, until Zimbabwe took it. Bowled out for 36 in a 2003 World Cup group game, they lost 4 for 12 to Prabath Nissanka and 3 for 15 to Vaas, who would take 4 for 11 against Zimbabwe fourteen months later and so has a hand in two of the three lowest totals in the format’s history. Desmond Chumney’s nine was the highest score.

What has changed recently

The top of this list has not moved since 2004, but the bottom half has. Four of the sixteen totals above were made in the last three years, and three of them involve India or Sri Lanka:

  • Sri Lanka 50 v India, Colombo, 17 September 2023 — the Asia Cup final, gone in 15.2 overs. Mohammed Siraj took 6 for 21. India knocked off the 51 in 6.1 overs and won by ten wickets with 263 balls to spare.
  • Sri Lanka 55 v India, Wankhede, 2 November 2023 — a World Cup group game, Mohammed Shami 5 for 18.
  • Zimbabwe 54 v Afghanistan, Harare, 19 December 2024 — Zimbabwe’s fifth appearance in this table.
  • UAE 49 v USA, Dubai, 3 November 2025 — Rusty Ugarkar 5 for 22, Saurabh Netravalkar 3 for 4.

India’s lowest ODI score

India’s lowest is 54, against Sri Lanka at Sharjah on 29 October 2000 in the Coca-Cola Champions Trophy final. Sanath Jayasuriya had made 189 off 161 balls in a Sri Lanka total of 299 for 5; India were then bowled out in 26.3 overs, Vaas taking five. Robin Singh’s 11 was the top score.

It is the only Indian total under 60 in ODI cricket, and it has stood for a quarter of a century.

Lowest score in women’s ODI cricket

The record belongs to the Netherlands, who made 22 against West Indies at Deventer on 9 July 2008. Pakistan’s 23 against Australia at Melbourne in 1997 is next, and Scotland’s 24 against England in 2001 third. India’s lowest is 26, against New Zealand at St Saviour in 2002.

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Featured photo: NICOLAS ASFOURI / AFP