5 lowest team totals in IPL history
T20 cricket has gradually become a batsman's game. With bigger bats and smaller boundaries, teams are regularly crossing the 200 mark in twenty overs and there are now individual hundreds being scored. Chris Gayle has even hit 175* by himself in the IPL.
However, the batsmen do not always win. There have been times when teams packed with talent and firepower have failed completely. This article looks at the five lowest team scores in IPL history, with both the Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore featuring twice.
#5 Royal Challengers Bangalore - 70 vs Rajasthan Royals
When the Royal Challengers Bangalore met the Rajasthan Royals in the 14th match of the 2014 IPL, hosted in Abu Dhabi, fans were expecting a very close affair. Both sides were strong and Bangalore boasted the likes of Parthiv Patel, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh in their star-studded line-up. Yet, they ended up being dismissed for a shockingly low 70 in exactly fifteen overs.
RCB had a torrid start, losing two wickets in the first over of the innings, including a calamitous run out. Two wickets also fell in the second over, as Kane Richardson took two in two and notably forced De Villiers to play on and removed him for a golden duck.
Bangalore were then left reeling at 5-4 in just 2.2 overs. It is surprising that they managed to recover as well as they did. They survived and started to rebuild with Virat Kohli and Nitish Rana at the crease, but Shane Watson soon removed the latter.
From that point on, it was the Pravin Tambe show. The veteran spinner ended up bamboozling RCB's lower order, eventually claiming the prized wicket of Virat Kohli. His other victims included Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc and Ashok Dinda as he finished with figures of 4-0-20-4. Kohli top-scored for RCB with his 21, followed by Starc's 18. They had three ducks on their scorecard.
Rajasthan were not that convincing in their chase, as they lost four wickets in the process. Nevertheless, it was still an emphatic win as they completed it in just 13 overs, thanks to cameos from Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson. Tambe was given man of the match for his devastating spell that humiliated Bangalore.