First in the IPL as all RCB batsmen dismissed for single digit scores

No cricket team would have ever imagined winning a low scoring match against a side as heavily armed as the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Sunday night saw a bizarre crumble from Virat Kohli’s boys as the Kolkata Knight Riders swallowed the RCB batting line-up whole.

Statistics had its share of fun as it lashed out at the Royal Challengers Bangalore side with a set of almost discourteous facts. The one that stood out was that RCB joined a not-so-famous list of teams whose batsmen failed to register a single score in double figures in a T20 innings.

Kedar Jadhav top-scored for the Royal Challengers with 9 runs. All-rounder Stuart Binny was next in line with 8, while Chris Gayle’s 7 placed him at 3rd spot in RCB’s floundering batting line-up.

The other two teams which form this lamentable list are Titans from South Africa and Tripura from India. Titans were the first team to achieve this peculiar feat back in 2004 against Eagles, while Tripura followed suit in 2009 while battling against Jharkhand.

Following a splendid first innings which saw the RCB bowlers stifle the home team, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle came out to bat chasing a mere 132. Bangalore lost Kohli in the very first over as the star was dismissed for a golden duck.

What followed was a procession, as batsmen came and left within a matter of minutes. Chris Gayle occupied the crease for the longest period of time, as he toiled through 17 balls to score just 7.

The Royal Challengers Bangalore were torpedoed by a fierce KKR bowling line-up. Their batsmen scraped to 49 before being bundled out. A side which holds the record of scoring the highest IPL total now found itself on the other end of the spectrum. The Royal Challengers Bangalore had registered the lowest team total in IPL history.

This match also witnessed the lowest aggregate of Virat Kohli, Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers in a single game. The three mega batsmen put together only 15 runs. Incidentally, their previous worst aggregate was 18 back in 2012, against the same opposition.

With a set of alarming statistics staring them in the face, it’s back to the drawing board for the Royal Challengers Bangalore following a dismal performance against the Kolkata Knight Riders.