Big Bash League outfit Sydney Thunder have suffered the ignominy of recording the lowest team total in the history of professional Twenty20 cricket, all out for just 15 as part of a 124-run loss to Adelaide Strikers on Friday.
Taking the field in chase of 140 for victory, the Thunder's scorecard barely ticked into double figures before they were dismissed - scoring just 15 runs between the 10 dismissed batters in an innings that lasted only 35 balls.
The total of 15 all out has gone past the previous record for the smallest in Twenty20 cricket, belonging to Turkey when they were skittled for just 21 against the Czech Republic in 2019. The mayhem started with just the third ball of the innings when spinner Matthew Short claimed the wicket of Matthew Gilkes for a third-ball duck before the seamers took over.
In just shy of three overs, pace bowler Henry Thornton took sublime figures of 5/3, dismissing Rilee Rossouw (3), captain Jason Sangha (0), Alex Ross (2), Oliver Davies (1) and Brendan Doggett (4).
And while Doggett was the final batter dismissed in the record-low total, at the very least he could hold his head high with a team-high score, while three runs of the 15 all out came from extras.
At the other end, Wes Agar had figures of 4/6, with the wickets of Alex Hales (0), Daniel Sams (1), Chris Green (0) and Gurinder Sandhu (0).
Combined, Thornton and Agar took figures of 9/9, as Adelaide didn't even need a second-change bowler.
So emphatic was the defeat, legspinner Rashid Khan of Afghanistan didn't even need to bowl.
Earlier, the Thunder did well to restrict the Strikers to 139/9 from their 20 overs. A 27-ball 36 to Australian Chris Lynn was the best on display for Adelaide, while former Blackcaps all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme made 33 from 24 balls as the innings' highest score.
But the Strikers could never have foreseen the carnage to come, as Thornton and Agar condemned the Thunder to the record books for all the wrong reasons.
The victory sent the Strikers to the top of the Big Bash League table, with their second straight win, now aided by a huge boost to their net run rate at +4.375.
And despite the loss, Sydney Thunder have been spared the humiliation of also being bottom of the table, courtesy of an opening day win over Melbourne Stars.
Adelaide Strikers 139/9 (Lynn 36; Farooqi 3/20) Sydney Thunder 15 (Doggett 4; Thornton 5/3, Agar 4/6).
