There have been only two occasions in the history of test cricket when no batsman has been able to reach double figures in entire innings.
The first time it happened was the first test match of the South Africa tour of England. Batting first, England scored 438 runs with openers Sir Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe adding 136 for the opening partnership. Frank Woolley and Patsy Hendren also contributed with 64 and 74 respectively.
Just when South Africa looked like they would make some inroads, Percy Fender scored 36 while Roy Kilner struck 59 to provide England with some useful runs in the lower middle order. George Parker was the star player for South Africa and took 6 wickets.
The Proteas were just about to face one of the biggest embarrassments in their cricket history as they were bowled out for just 30 runs, conceding a first innings lead of 408. No South African batsman could get into double digits with captain Herbie Taylor top-scoring with 7.
Four of the South African batters scored nought while another three scored just one. However, 11 extras were conceded in the innings which took the team's total to 30. Arthur Gilligan picked up 6 wickets for Australia. Maurice Tate assisted him well with 4 scalps.
Following on, South Africa scored 390 and lost the match by an innings and 18 runs. While none of their batters could manage to get into double figures in the first innings of South Africa, the extras were over 10.
However, in India's first test of their four-match series against Australia at Adelaide, even the extras could not make it to double digits, highlighting that the Australian bowlers were right on the money.
With a lead of more than 60 runs at the beginning of day three, India were in a dominant position and were expected to give Australia a target of around 250-300 and make it very difficult for the home side to compete.
However, it came as a shock for one and all when India were bowled out for just 36 runs in their second innings. Australia chased down the target quite comfortably to win the game by 8 wickets.
Mayank Agarwal was the top run-scorer for India and made 9 runs. The next best was Hanuma Vihari with 8. No Indian batsman could reach double figures with three of them – Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin - getting dismissed for ducks.
