Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 81 runs in IPL 2023 on Thursday, April 6. KKR were 89/5 at one stage and recovered with a 57-run knock from Gurbaz, 68 from Thakur, and 46 from Rinku Singh to post 204-7. RCB started well in reply but lost Kohli and Du Plessis in back-to-back overs, and 9 wickets fell to KKR spinners. The visitors avoided a loss of over 100 runs with a 27-run partnership for the 10th wicket as they were bowled out for 123 in 17.4 overs.
Let’s look at RCB’s biggest losses in IPL in terms of runs:
1) RCB vs KKR: 140 runs, 2008
On the first-ever IPL match, Brendon McCullum scored 158* off 73 balls to lead KKR to 222-3 at Chinnaswamy Stadium. KKR went on to win the match by a staggering 140 runs thanks to Ajit Agarkar, who took 3 wickets and gave up 25 runs in his 4 overs. It is still KKR’s biggest victory in the IPL.
2) RCB vs SRH: 118 runs, 2019
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow blasted 185 runs in 16.2 overs to set SRH up for a big 231-2 win. However, Bangalore’s top order failed to produce, leaving them at 35/6. Prayas Ray Barman, Colin de Grandhomme, and Umesh Yadav contributed to get Bangalore over the 100-run mark, but SRH still won by 118 runs – their biggest victory by a margin of runs.
3) RCB vs KXIP: 111 runs, 2011
Kings XI Punjab won the toss and elected to bat first at Dharamsala in 2011, with Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh adding 206 runs for the second wicket. Bangalore lost their star batters early on, and AB de Villiers (34) was the only notable contributor for RCB, who were eventually bowled out for 121 in 17 overs, losing the game by 111 runs.
4) RCB vs PBKS: 97 runs, 2020
Punjab Kings were 128-3 in 15.2 overs after the dismissals of Pooran and Glenn Maxwell. KL Rahul then made sure to make the most of some poor death bowling and hit a stunning 132* off 69 balls to help them reach 206-3. RCB, however, started badly at 4-3 in 2.4 overs. Aaron Finch and AB de Villiers fought back with a 49-run partnership, but both overseas batsmen were soon dismissed in consecutive overs. Washington Sundar’s 30 runs eventually helped RCB cross the 100-run mark before being bowled out for 109 in 17 overs, resulting in a 97-run loss.
5) RCB vs CSK: 92 runs, 2009
In 2009, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first against the Kevin Pietersen-led side. Matthew Hayden made 65 runs off 35 deliveries, helping CSK post 179-5 at Gqeberha. Praveen Kumar was sent out as a pinch hitter, but this experiment did not pay off for RCB as they fell short in their run-chase. A second-wicket partnership between Robin Uthappa and Jacques Kallis kept the game alive for a while, but Bangalore’s collapse from 40-1 to 87 all-out in 15.2 overs saw them lose the match by 92 runs.
