Yesterday, we have seen one of the unexpected performances in the history of IPL and it was a match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Though it was the home ground for KKR, RCB restricted them for 131 as spin did some magic out there.
As it was a small target, everyone thought that RCB could easily chase down the target as soon as possible as they have some of the destructive batsmen like Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle, and AB de Villiers. But, turning down everyone’s expectations, RCB were made all-out for 49 runs and it was really a shocking moment for the team as well as the IPL fans. It has been an embarrassing moment for RCB team and their fans.
This match proves that T20 is a game that can change at any time between any teams despite the team is strong or not. In between of batsmen dominance, bowlers sometimes come with all guns blazing to restrict the teams to unpredictable low scores. IPL is not an exception for it as the league has seen teams bundling out for low scores on many occasions.
Let us have a look at 10 low scores recorded in the history of IPL so far:
10. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Kolkata Knight Riders, 2008 – 82/10
This is the first ever match of IPL which started in 2008. After a brilliant knock by Brendon McCullum of 158 runs, RCB couldn’t get over it as a result, their batting failed miserably. KKR’s bowling attack led by Agarkar, Ishant, Dinda, and Ganguly broke the RCB’s top order. Except for Praveen Kumar, none of the RCB batsmen scored a two-digit number. Surprisingly, RCB’s top contribution was by KKR bowling department in the form of Extras (19).
9. Deccan Chargers vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2010 – 82/10
In the 3rd place play-off match between RCB and DC, Deccan Chargers collapsed to their least score in IPL, 82. It was Anil Kumble who picked up four wickets supported by Steyn and Praveen as they lost half of the side for 35. Though DC tried to recover, Kumble wrapped up the middle and lower order as DC were all out for 82.
8. Rajasthan Royals vs. Kolkata Knight Riders, 2011 – 81/10
After been put into bat, RR kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Lakshmipathi Balaji and Shakib All Hasan were crucial in taking RR wickets to reduce them for 81 all out.
7. Delhi Daredevils vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad, 2013 – 80/10
SRH with a mighty strong bowling unit crushed Delhi Daredevils for 80 all out. Delhi batted first and kept losing wickets in front of Dale Steyn, Darren Sammy, and Thisara Perera.
6. Chennai Super Kings vs. Mumbai Indians, 2013 – 79/10
Until then, CSK were sailing in a good form on a slow surface in Wankhede. CSK bowlers did a good job of restricting the hosts for 139. MI’s strong bowling attack by Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson and Pragyan Ojha, CSK were demolished for 79 all out which is the lowest score for CSK in IPL history.
5. Kochi Tuskers Kerala vs. Deccan Chargers, 2011 – 74/10
Despite a poor performance by DC’s batting unit, their bowling department took the pressure and could restrict the hosts for 74 all out. Led by Ishant Sharma and Dale Steyn, Deccan Chargers charged down the Tuskers from Kochi as 5 of the top 6 batsmen recorded ducks. KTK were reeling at 11 for 6. Despite some runs from Perera, Jadeja and Vinay’s bat, they could manage to end up at only 74.
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Rajasthan Royals, 2014 – 70/10
It was Pravin Tambe who led his side to a comfortable win. RCB’s world class players couldn’t settle down in front of some quality bowling of Rajasthan Royals. RCB were bowled out for 70 runs. In no time, they were reduced to 5 for 4 in 3rd over. Tambe didn’t allow the tail’s wagging.
3. Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Mumbai Indians, 2008 – 67/10
It was MI’s bowling unit who themselves capitalized against KKR and restricted them for 67 runs. Shaun Pollock, Dwayne Bravo, Rohan Raje and Dominic Thornely played a crucial role in demolishing KKR for a very low score. They could stop Ganguly and Agarkar’s rescue act as KKR bowled out for 67.
2. Rajasthan Royals vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore, 2009 – 58/10
It was the second match of IPL 2009 season between RR and RCB. Rajasthan Royals were good at their bowling and restricted RCB for 133. But RR couldn’t do the same while batting. Under the initiation of Anil Kumble, RCB were successful in bowling out RR for 58 runs. Kumble took 5 wickets and Praveen Kumar and Jesse Ryder took two wickets each. In a span of 13 balls, Kumble got Rajasthan from 47 for 5 to 58 all out.
1. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs. Kolkata Knight Riders – 49/10
Over the years RCB has posted and chased down some of the highest scores in the leagues but in this match in IPL 10 was completely out of sorts. This was the lowest total by any team in IPL History and it was recorded by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders. Though RCB bowlers could restrict the hosts KKR for 131, they couldn’t reach the target so as easily. Each and every player of RCB couldn’t face KKR bowlers and no one could score a double digit number.
Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav and Colin de Grandhomme were the KKR pacers who did the job comfortably by restricting RCB for 49 all out which is the lowest total by any team in IPL history.
All these low scores were recorded for the teams who were running in a good form got a terribly bad day.