3 shortest completed ODIs in 21st century
Not just T20I cricket, but the 50-overs format has also seen some of the matches which ended in the shortest period of time. Sides unable to score runs have been bundled out for lowest of lowest scores resulting in the ODI match getting completed in hardly a few overs combined of both the teams. Teams have struggled to bat first and post a total on the board.
Let’s take a look at the 3 shortest completed ODIs (in terms of ball bowled) in the 21st Century (excluding no result games and considering only Full-members)
3.Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe (164 balls)
In 2004, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka locked horns in the third of the five-match ODI series in Harare. Batting first, not a single Zimbabwean player reached the double-digit mark as the team got bundled out for just 35 runs in 18 overs (108 balls). It is the lowest ODI innings total by a full-member nation to date. Chaminda Vaas took 4/11 while Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof took two and three wickets respectively. Sri Lankan batters completed the chase in 9.2 overs (56 balls) as the match lasted just 164 deliveries with the hosts suffering a hammering.
2.Sri Lanka vs Canada (140 balls)
In the 2003 WC, Sri Lanka met Canada in Paarl, South Africa. Canada batted first and no player touched the double-digit score as the side got bowled out in 18.4 overs (112 balls) for mere 36 runs, the second-lowest innings total in the history of ODI cricket. Chaminda Vaas and Prabath Nissanka took three and four wickets respectively before Sri Lanka chased down the target in just 4.4 overs (28 balls) to win the match which lasted just 140 deliveries by nine wickets.
1.Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe (120 balls)
Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe faced each other in the first match of the tri-Series in December 2001 in Colombo (SSC). The hosts put Zimbabwe in to bat and Chaminda Vaas just ripped the Zimbabwean batting apart. Vaas took 8/19, the best bowling figures in ODIs to date, as the visitors got bowled out for just 38 runs, the third-lowest total in ODI history, in 15.4 overs (94 balls). Sri Lanka chased the target in 4.2 overs (26 balls) and won the game by nine wickets. The match spanned for just 120 deliveries.
