IPL history: 3 lowest totals by Kolkata Knight Riders

Kolkata Knight Riders have been a part of the Indian Premier League ever since the league's inception in 2008. Bollywood celebrity Shahrukh Khan is one of the owners of the franchise, which represents the state of West Bengal in the league.

Popularly known as KKR, the team has been successful in winning 2 IPL trophies in 11 seasons. The Knight Riders started their IPL journey under the leadership of the Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly. However, the legendary player could not help KKR in achieving the success the team owners would have wished for.

So KKR released him ahead of the 4th season and bought Gautam Gambhir in the auction. The Delhi player changed the fortunes of the franchise as the Purple Army won both of their IPL titles under Gambhir. They have performed well in every season since 2011.

Their batting, bowling and fielding have all been up to the mark. However, the same was not the case with their batting department from 2008 to 2010. The fact that their 3 lowest totals in IPL history have come in that time period reinforces the above statement.

So with IPL 2019 on the horizon, let's look at the 3 lowest totals of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL history:

#3 101 vs Deccan Chargers, IPL 2009

RP Singh picked 4 wickets in that match to skittle KKR out for a total of 101

In the 4th match of the 2nd edition of the IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders locked horns with Deccan Chargers. KKR captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and elected to bat first, but never in his dreams would he have imagined that his side would be bowled out for a total of 101 runs in 19.4 overs.

Australian batsman Brad Hodge was the top-scorer of that innings with 31, as no other batsman was able to register more than 11 runs. RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha were the wreckers in chief as they combined to take 6 wickets.

Deccan Chargers chased down the target in just 13.1 overs, losing just 2 wickets, and grabbed 2 points from that encounter.

#2 95 vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2009

Lasith Malinga and Sachin Tendulkar totally demolished Kolkata Knight Riders at Port Elizabeth

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders met in a league match of the 2009 IPL at Port Elizabeth on 27th April. MI skipper Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and elected to bat first.

Mumbai's openers Sanath Jayasuriya and Sachin Tendulkar both scored half-centuries as they took the team to a total of 187 in 20 overs.

Chasing 188, Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a disastrous start as their openers Brendon McCullum and Chris Gayle were both back in the hut with the team's score reading 17. Brad Hodge and Sourav Ganguly tried to build a partnership in the middle, but both lost their wickets to Abhishek Nayar by the 12th over.

The middle and the lower order of KKR suffered a collapse as the remaining 6 batsmen got out after adding just 15 runs to the team's total. Lasith Malinga emerged with figures of 3-19 as Mumbai Indians won the match quite comfortably.

#1 67 vs Mumbai Indians, IPL 2008

Sanath Jayasuriya helped Mumbai Indians win the match in just 5.3 overs

In the year 2008, both Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders had lukewarm IPL seasons as the teams failed to maintain their consistency throughout the tournament. In a clash of equals at Mumbai, the home team elected to field first after winning the toss.

Salman Butt and Aakash Chopra opened the KKR innings but both lost their wickets in the early stages to put the visitors in trouble. Shaun Pollock, Dwayne Bravo, R Raje and Dominic Thornely ran through the middle order as they reduced the Purple and Golden army to 35/6 in 9.1 overs.

Sourav Ganguly and Ajit Agarkar tried to take the team's total to 3 digits, but they failed to do so as MI bowled the entire side out for a total of 67 runs.

Sanath Jayasuriya played an innings of 48 runs off just 17 balls to help the home side register a victory within the mandatory powerplay itself.