IPL 2019: 3 lowest totals by Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL history
A menacing batting line-up, a world-class support staff and a loyal fan base; Royal Challengers Bangalore comes as one of the most celebrated IPL clubs. Housing some of the biggest superstars of the game, each year, the franchise enters the fray as one of the hot favourites.
However, much to the disappointment of many, the team from down south languishes as one of the few teams to have not got its hands on the elusive silverware.
Over the past decade, the Challengers have had many reasons to blame for their lackluste performances. By not being able to fire consistently as a cohesive unit and seal crunch moments in knockout games, the men in red have been at the receiving end once too often.
And testifying these very failings are a few memories that continue to haunt the fans as major embarrassments.
Traditionally known for its batting strengths, RCB, ironically, holds a few batting humiliations. Here, we look at three of the lowest scores scored by the team from Bangalore in the history of IPL:
#3 82 all out in 2008
The Indian Premier League got off to the worst start possible for Royal Challengers Bangalore when they locked horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in the inaugural match of the tournament in 2008.
After being brutally assaulted by Brendon McCullum's fierce 158*, the home team stared down the barrel with a daunting task of chasing 223 runs for victory. Eventually, the Chinnaswamy stadium witnessed a meek surrender by its favourite team as the RCB batsmen queued to pavilion in quick succession.
The likes of Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli were dismissed cheaply as the team was bundled out for a paltry total of 82. The top score, surprisingly, came from the bat of Praveen Kumar, who stood not out with 18 runs. The team lost by a heavy margin of 140 runs and hence scripted a bitter memory for the fans.
Brief Scores:
KKR 222/3 (Brendon McCullum 158*, Ashley Noffke 1/40)
RCB 82/10 (Praveen Kumar 18*, Ajit Agarkar 3/25)