Duck is a term referring to a batter getting out without opening their run account in an inning, and it is every cricketer’s nightmare. While it does not do a batter’s confidence and form any good, the phenomenon of multiple ducks in innings highlights teams’ struggles. Over the years, there have been instances of teams getting bundled thanks to many of their batters getting out without scoring a single run.
In this article, we will discuss the times when a team had the most number of ducks in a single innings of a Test match.
Pakistan (6) vs West Indies at Karachi, 1980/81
The first-ever instance of more than 5 batters getting out for a duck in a single inning came during a home Test match for Pakistan at Karachi. Hosting West Indies in the 1980/81 season, Pakistan batters lost the plot after opting to bat first, losing both their openers Shafiq Ahmed and Sadiq Mohammad for a duck each. The middle-order batter Majid Khan joined the duo before three of the lower-order batters (Ijaz Faqih, Iqbal Qasim, and Mohammad Nazir) returned to the dugout before opening their account.
Though Pakistan got bowled out for a mere 128 in their first inning courtesy of this poor show, the game ended in a draw thanks to constant rain interruptions.
South Africa (6) vs India at Ahmedabad, 1996/97
South Africa became the second side to have six batters get out for a duck in a single Test inning.
In a Test match at Bengaluru, the Proteas, in their pursuit of 170 in the final innings, succumbed to a 64-run loss, all thanks to a rout by Indian bowlers Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble. While Srinath dismissed South Africa’s opener Andrew Hudson and Daryll Cullinan for a duck in the very first over, Kumble got rid of Pat Symcox and Fanie de Villiers for the same score. Jonty Rhodes and Paul Adams were the other batters to fall for a duck in the innings.
Bangladesh (6) vs West Indies at Dhaka, 2002/03
Still, in the nascent stages of their Test journey, Bangladesh had one of their many forgettable outings in the red-ball format against the West Indies in the 2002/03 season.
Played at Dhaka, the visitors handed them a massive defeat by a margin of innings & 310 runs, and the major highlight was six of their batters getting out without troubling the scorers in the second innings. Following on, the hosts lost a heap of wickets, with pacer Jermaine Lawson picking 6 of them and five of those batters falling for a duck. Mohammad Ashraful, one of the six to be dismissed for a duck, got out to Vasbert Drakes.
India (6) vs England at Manchester, 2014/15
On what was already a tour overseas to England, India had a forgettable fourth Test match at Manchester, losing to the host by innings & 54 runs.
Opting to bat first, India could muster only 152 runs in their first inning, with Stuart Broad ending with sensational figures of 6/25. Amidst that, India batters entered into this dubious list as six of them, Murali Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Pankaj Singh, all getting out for a duck. Broad, as expected, was responsible for four of these dismissals.
New Zealand (6) vs Pakistan at Dubai, 2018/19
After piling a massive 418/5 batting first for almost 2 days, Pakistan asserted its dominance in the Test match in Dubai by bowling out New Zealand for 90 when it was their time to bowl.
Leg spinner Yasir Shah was the main wrecker-in-chief for Pakistan, as he snapped 8 wickets in the innings, including 5 of the Kiwi batters for a duck. This gave Pakistan a dominant inning victory by 16 runs over New Zealand and ensured the latter’s entry into this list.
Bangladesh (6) vs Sri Lanka at Mirpur, 2022
Bangladesh made its second entry to the list thanks to the Test match at Mirpur against Sri Lanka, where 6 of the batters lost their respective wickets for a duck.
While the other instances came in a collapse, Bangladesh was able to pile up 365 runs in this inning, thanks to centuries from Litton Das (141) and Msushfiqur Rahim (175). On the other extreme, batters like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudul Joy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Khaled Ahmed, and Ebadot Hossain all fell for a duck.
Bangladesh (6) vs West Indies at Antigua, 2022
In the same year, Bangladesh batters again repeated their sorry batting show in the first innings of the Test match against the West Indies at Antigua.
Having inserted the visiting team to bat first, WI pacers reaped instant rewards as they dismissed Bangladesh for a paltry total of 103. Bangladesh completely lost the plot losing six of their batters, including top-order batsmen like Najmul Shanto, Mominul Haque, Mahmudul Joy, and Nurul Hasan, among others, for a duck. This effort was instrumental in the hosts clinching the game by 7 wickets.
India (6) vs South Africa at Centurion, 2023/24
The eighth and last entrant into this dubious list is once again by India during their tour of South Africa that took place early in 2024. The visiting team bowled out South Africa for 55 and was comfortably placed at 153/4 at one stage in their first essay.
However, out of the blue, India lost their next six wickets without adding a run on the board. Five of the last six batters (Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna) fell one after another for duck and joined opener Yashasvi Jaiswal. However, this is the only instance where the team that lost six wickets for a duck in an inning won the game as India beat South Africa by 7 wickets.
Instances of 5 Ducks in a Test Innings
There are 39 other instances of a team losing five of its batters for a duck in a single inning, and 3 of them occurred in the year 2024: namely Bangladesh against Sri Lanka at Sylhet, India against New Zealand at Bengaluru, and Sri Lanka against South Africa at Durban.
West Indies (8) holds the record for having the most instances of 5 or more batters getting out for a duck in a single inning, while New Zealand comes in next with 7 such instances and India is third with six entries.
Check: Batters with Most Consecutive 100s in Tests
