By Ankit Kumar | Updated: October 12, 2025 7:39 AM IST
There have been many thrilling Test matches in cricket history that have stunned spectators. Sometimes, teams are all out for very low scores, raising questions about their performance. In some matches, the situation becomes so dire that teams become a laughingstock and their performance proves to be extremely disappointing.
A similar incident occurred with the South African team when they were reduced to just 30 runs. This score was so low that even cricket fans and analysts were stunned. We will provide you with complete details about when, where, and against whom this Test match was played.
This Test match was played between England and South Africa in 1896. South Africa's batting was so poor that the entire team was all out for just 30 runs. This performance is considered one of the most shameful in cricket history.
This historic match was played on February 13 and 14, 1896. England defeated South Africa by a huge margin of 288 runs. This margin was huge for the time and demonstrated the vast gap between the two teams.
England won the toss and batted first, scoring 185 runs. Arthur Hill scored 43 and Tom Hayward scored 30. For South Africa, Bonnor Middleton took 5 wickets for 64 runs in 25.4 overs—a satisfactory performance.
Former South Africa wicketkeeper had a strike-rate of 70.9 in the 91 Test innings he played.
England set South Africa a target of 319 runs to win. However, in response, South Africa's second innings was reduced to 30 runs in just 18.4 overs. This was the lowest total in Test cricket history at that time. Lohmann wreaked havoc in this innings as well, taking 8 wickets for just 7 runs in 9.4 overs, including a hat-trick.