India's poor performance and lowest totals in ODIs

After losing the toss on numerous occasions, the spin of the coin finally went in favour of the Indian captain MS Dhoni, who had a big smile on his face after winning the toss. But that was the only thing that the Men-in-Blue could smile about because, for the second time in this tri-series, India came up with a listless performance, shot out for a mere 103 - Their fourth lowest total in ODIs while batting first. 

This poor showing by India is also their 9th lowest total in One Day Internationals. If one refers to the below list of India's 10 lowest totals, It could be noted that 4 such totals have come against Sri Lanka.




India's 10 lowest totals in ODIs:

Total	Overs	Innings	Opposition	Venue	Match Date

54	26.3	2	Sri Lanka	Sharjah	29-Oct-00
63	25.5	1	Australia	Sydney	08-Jan-81
78	24.1	2	Sri Lanka	Kanpur	24-Dec-86
79	34.2	1	Pakistan	Sialkot	13-Oct-78
88	29.3	2	New Zealand	Dambulla	10-Aug-10
91	29.1	2	South Africa	Durban	22-Nov-06
100	36.3	1	Australia	Sydney	14-Jan-00
100	28.3	2	West Indies	Ahmedabad	16-Nov-93
103	33.4	1	Sri Lanka	Dambulla	22-Aug-10
103	26.3	2	Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	29-Aug-08

Since 2001, this is the 12th time India has been bowled out for a score below 130. Another thing to observe is that 6 such totals came against New Zealand. Digging deeper into the statistics, an interesting fact is that Sachin Tendulkar was not part of the Indian eleven in 9 of the below mentioned matches. 


Here is the list:

Total	Opposition	Venue	Start Date
127	New Zealand	Colombo (RPS)	20-Jul-01
127	Pakistan	Amstelveen	21-Aug-04
125	Australia	Centurion	15-Feb-03
123	West Indies	Port of Spain	01-Jun-02
122	New Zealand	Queenstown	04-Jan-03
122	New Zealand	Hamilton	14-Jan-03
108	New Zealand	Auckland	26-Dec-02
108	New Zealand	Christchurch	01-Jan-03
103	Sri Lanka	Colombo (RPS)	29-Aug-08
103	Sri Lanka	Dambulla	22-Aug-10
91	South Africa	Durban	22-Nov-06
88	New Zealand	Dambulla	10-Aug-10

Note: The matches marked in bold were those where Tendulkar featured in the Indian eleven. He was also India's highest scorer in two of those matches. He scored 36 in the match against Australia, 1 in the match against New Zealand and 35 in the match against South Africa.

Dambulla has not been a happy hunting ground for the Indians. When they were skittled out for a below-par 103, India registered the 3rd lowest total on this ground. Infact, India are also joint first in the list along with England, when they were shot-out for 88 by New Zealand earlier in the series.

Lowest totals at Dambulla:

Team	Total	Overs	Inns	Opposition	Match Date
England	88	46.1	1	Sri Lanka	18-Nov-03
India	88	29.3	2	New Zealand	10-Aug-10
India	103	33.4	1	Sri Lanka	22-Aug-10
Pakistan	116	43.1	1	New Zealand	11-May-03
Sri Lanka	120	43.1	2	Pakistan	10-May-03
U.A.E.	123	47.5	2	Sri Lanka	17-Jul-04
New Zealand	139	43.1	1	Sri Lanka	13-May-03
Sri Lanka	142	38.3	1	India	20-Aug-08
England	143	48.5	1	Sri Lanka	23-Mar-01
U.A.E.	144	35	2	India	16-Jul-04

By virtue of this performance, India also equalled their 3rd lowest total in ODIs against Sri Lanka. This is also the 4th time since 2000 that an Indian team has been bowled out for a score less than 150 against Sri Lanka.

India's lowest totals against Sri Lanka:

Total	Overs	Innings	Venue	Match Date
54	26.3	2	Sharjah	29-Oct-00
78	24.1	2	Kanpur	24-Dec-86
103	33.4	1	Dambulla	22-Aug-10
103	26.3	2	Colombo (RPS)	29-Aug-08
136	40.3	1	Margao	08-Dec-90
146	46	1	Dambulla	18-Aug-08