Lowest Scores by RR
Inaugural edition’s IPL champions Rajasthan Royals have made it to the playoffs just three times sans 2008 edition with the third-place finish in the 2013 edition being their best. The Steve Smith led side have meanwhile finished fifth or below in six of the 10 seasons they have played in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Their failure in the tournament is largely due to their batting failures as cricket nowadays is a competition of who bats well and this is the area where they have lacked. With not many established players in the squad and opting to go with rookie players, they have often been bundled out for paltry scores.
Below we mention, the Top 5 Lowest Team Totals by RR in IPL.
5 Lowest Scores by RR in Indian Premier League
1. 58 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (2009)
Lowest Scores by RR: In their first match of the 2009 season, the Rajasthan Royals played against Bangalore at Cape Town. RCB won the toss and elected to bat first. Although Bangalore started poorly, losing three quick wickets inside the powerplay, yet it was Rahul Dravid’s 48 balls 66 along with skipper Kevin Pietersen’s 30 balls 32 that helped the Royal Challengers Bangalore post a competitive total of 133 for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs.
In reply, none of the Royals’ batsman got going as only three out of the eleven managed to reach double figures mark. It was Anil Kumble’s leg-break that wreaked havoc amongst the Rajasthan batsmen as RR were bundled out for 58, their lowest IPL total till date.
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2. 81 against Kolkata Knight Riders (2011)
Lowest Team Totals by RR: The 17th match of the 2011 edition of the Indian Premier League saw Rajasthan Royals travel to Kolkata to play the Kolkata Knight Riders. Kolkata’s skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and asked Royals to bat first.
The Kolkata bowlers kept it tight for the Royals’ batsmen right from the start of the innings as they lost their first three wickets inside seven overs. In the end, riding on a collective bowling performance from the KKR bowlers, the Jaipur based team were dismissed for 81 inside 15.2 overs. It was Lakshmipathy Balaji’s three-fer that really struck the Royals’ batting in the game.
In reply, Kolkata breezed past the target of 82 inside 13.5 overs with Gambhir remaining not out at 35 and Manoj Tiwary being unbeaten at 30.
Read More: Lowest Scores by KXIP
3. 92 against Royal Challengers Bangalore (2010)
In the 10th match of the 2010 season, Royals travelled to Bengaluru to play the Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB skipper Anil Kumble had won the toss and put the Royals to bat first. The Royals started off well, however, a flurry of wickets in the middle left them reeling at 85 for 7 in the 17th over. At the end, they managed to score only 92 runs and were bowled out in 19.5 overs.
The duo of Praveen Kumar and Anil Kumble were the chief wreckers for RCB as they both picked three wickets each. Meanwhile, Jacques Kallis picked two wickets.
The Royal Challengers in reply did not lose any wicket as they chased down the total inside 11 overs. Openers Manish Pandey (42*) and Jacques Kallis (44*) remained unbeaten as Kallis for his all-round performance was adjudged as the player of the match.
Read More: Lowest scores by SRH
4. 97 against Kochi Tuskers Kerala (2011)
Lowest Team Totals by RR: Rajasthan Royals met the erstwhile IPL franchise Kochi Tuskers at Indore to play the season’s 61st match. Being asked to bat first after losing the toss, Royals lost three quick wickets inside the powerplay which left them reeling at 26 for the loss of three wickets. Soon a 37-run partnership ensured that the Royals steadied their innings but a flurry of wickets in the middle-overs resulted in the Royals being bundled out for 97 in 18.3 overs.
Unexpectedly, it was Brad Hodge who was the chief-wrecker for the Tuskers. He bagged four wickets as he along with S Sreesanth and Prasanth Parameswaran who bagged two wickets each ensured that the Royals were dismissed for 97.
In reply, the Tuskers reached the target inside the eighth over despite losing two wickets.
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5. 101/9 against Kolkata Knight Riders
Lowest Scores by RR: In Royals’ final match of the season, Kolkata won the toss and opted to field first. In reply, the Royals were off to a flyer scoring 22 runs in the first over. However, they soon lost four quick wickets inside the next five overs to find themselves struggling at 42 for the loss of four wickets in six overs.
They continued to lose wickets in the middle overs as well as at the end of 20 overs they managed to post mere 101 runs for the loss of nine wickets. Charl Langeveldt was the chief-wrecker for Kolkata as he picked three wickets in the match.
In turn, Kolkata too struggled with their chase before reaching the target in the ultimate over despite losing six wickets.
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