Royal Challengers Bengaluru's 49 all out against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2017 is the lowest team total in IPL history, and the only time any side has folded for under 50. The record is a monument to a bad batting morning, not a bad team. This is the full top ten, the story behind the 49, and whether anyone will ever go lower, the exact mirror of the league's highest team totals.
Quick Answer - Lowest IPL Team Totals
The lowest team total in IPL history is 49, made by Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on 23 April 2017, bowled out in 9.4 overs while chasing 132. It is the only time a side has folded for under 50; Rajasthan Royals come next with 58 and 59, both against RCB. Every score here is really a bowling record, which is why the list reads like a companion to the IPL's best bowling figures.
हिन्दी: आईपीएल में सबसे कम टीम स्कोर RCB का 49 रन है (2017, बनाम KKR), और यही एकमात्र मौका है जब कोई टीम 50 रन के अंदर ऑल आउट हुई।
Records verified via ESPNcricinfo and the official IPL site, updated 13 July 2026.
The 10 Lowest IPL Team Totals
The ten lowest completed innings totals in the IPL sit between 49 and 73, and four of them came in a single season, 2017.
| Rank | Score | Team | Opponent | Season | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 49 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Kolkata Knight Riders | 2017 | Eden Gardens, Kolkata |
| 2 | 58 | Rajasthan Royals | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2009 | Cape Town |
| 3 | 59 | Rajasthan Royals | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 2023 | Sawai Mansingh, Jaipur |
| 4 | 66 | Delhi Daredevils | Mumbai Indians | 2017 | Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi |
| 5 | 67 | Delhi Daredevils | Kings XI Punjab | 2017 | Mohali |
| 6 | 67 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Mumbai Indians | 2008 | Wankhede, Mumbai |
| 7 | 68 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 2022 | Brabourne, Mumbai |
| 8 | 70 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Chennai Super Kings | 2019 | Chepauk, Chennai |
| 9 | 70 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Rajasthan Royals | 2014 | Abu Dhabi |
| 10 | 73 | Kings XI Punjab | Rising Pune Supergiant | 2017 | Pune |
| Year set | Record low | Team | Beaten by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 67 | Kolkata Knight Riders | Rajasthan Royals (2009) |
| 2009 | 58 | Rajasthan Royals | RCB (2017) |
| 2017 | 49 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | Still stands |
Why This Record Matters
A total under 70 is not just a loss; it is a collapse that reshapes a season. When Rajasthan Royals were skittled for 59 by RCB at Jaipur in 2023, the damage was as much to their net run rate as to the two points, and it fed straight into the playoff maths. The same shape shows up again and again: a cluster of early wickets, a scoreboard that stops moving, and an innings that never recovers. These are the mornings that define a franchise's worst day, which is why Rajasthan Royals carry two of the three lowest scores in the league, both against the same opponent.
Low Totals Across the IPL Eras
The record book leans on one stretch. Four of the ten lowest totals came in a single season, 2017, and most of the rest sit in the years around it, when pitches gripped more and 160 was often a defendable score. Since the Impact Player rule arrived in 2023, teams bat deeper and totals past 200 have become routine, so all-out collapses have grown rarer. That backdrop is exactly why Rajasthan's 59 in 2023 and Delhi's 75 in 2026 feel so jarring: they are low-scoring throwbacks in an era built for runs. The bowlers still get their mornings; they just get fewer of them now.
The 49 That Still Owns the Record
On 23 April 2017 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata Knight Riders made 131 and then took RCB apart chasing it. Three KKR bowlers claimed three wickets each, with Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme doing the early damage. Not a single RCB batter reached double figures. Virat Kohli fell for a duck, the innings folded in 9.4 overs, and the whole thing was done in under an hour. The final figure, 49, is the only sub-50 total in the IPL's nineteen seasons, and it sits a clear nine runs below anything else on this list. It has outlasted every flat pitch and deep batting order since. The Eden Gardens surface can still nip around under lights, but matching that collapse needs everything to go wrong on the same morning.
How Close Has Anyone Come Lately?
The record has not fallen, but it was seriously threatened in 2026. On 27 April, Delhi Capitals were 8 for 6 inside four overs against RCB at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar taking 3 for 5 and Josh Hazlewood 4 for 12 on a surface that swung all through the powerplay. Their powerplay score of 13 for 6 is the lowest in a full IPL game. Only a 30 from Abhishek Porel dragged them to 75 and past the 49. It was the closest the league had come to a new record low in years. The one earlier innings to lose six wickets in the powerplay was Kochi Tuskers Kerala's, on the way to 74 against Deccan Chargers back in 2011, on the same date, 27 April, fifteen years apart.
Will Any Team Score Lower Than 49?
Probably not for a long time, and the reason is structural. The 49 was set in a lower-scoring era; today's pitches are flatter and the Impact Player rule hands every side an extra batter, so teams bat deeper with a specialist substitute in reserve. To go under 50 you no longer just need a top-order wobble; you need the whole extended line-up to fail on a morning that swings like a Test match, which is close to what Delhi walked into in 2026, and they still made 75. My honest read is that the 49 is the safest batting-collapse record in the IPL. A sub-40 total is almost unthinkable while surfaces stay this good. If anything breaks it, expect an early-season game on a fresh, grassy pitch under lights, with a new-ball pair in the mood, the exact recipe from Eden Gardens in 2017.
Here is the part that never gets old: the same franchise holds the lowest total in IPL history and has conceded the highest. RCB were bowled out for 49 in 2017, and in 2024 they watched Sunrisers Hyderabad pile up 287 against them. One club, both extremes. It tells you how little a single number means without context, which is the whole point of a page like this. The 49 is not proof that RCB were a weak batting side; they had Kohli, de Villiers and Gayle in that era. It is proof that T20 cricket can humble anyone on the wrong morning. For the fuller picture of how this club swings between disaster and dominance, the RCB records page lays it out season by season. My one caveat: with pitches this flat, we may simply never see a total this low again, which would make 49 a record that outlives all of us watching.
Frequently Asked Questions - Lowest IPL Team Totals
What is the lowest team total in IPL history?
The lowest team total in IPL history is 49, scored by Royal Challengers Bengaluru against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens on 23 April 2017. RCB were bowled out in 9.4 overs chasing 132. It is the only time an IPL side has been dismissed for under 50.
Which team has the lowest totals in the IPL?
Royal Challengers Bengaluru appear four times in the ten lowest totals, including the record 49. Rajasthan Royals hold the next two lowest, 58 in 2009 and 59 in 2023, both against RCB. Delhi Daredevils also feature twice, with 66 and 67 in 2017.
Has any team scored under 50 more than once in the IPL?
No. RCB's 49 in 2017 is the only sub-50 total in the league's nineteen seasons. The next lowest scores, Rajasthan Royals' 58 and 59, both stayed above 50, and no other side has come within nine runs of the record.
What was the lowest total in IPL 2026?
The lowest total in IPL 2026 was Delhi Capitals' 75, bowled out by RCB at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on 27 April. Delhi slumped to 8 for 6 inside four overs against Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood, and their powerplay score of 13 for 6 is the lowest in a full IPL game.
Why do teams get bowled out so cheaply in T20 cricket?
Almost every sub-70 IPL total starts with a cluster of early wickets. The lowest scores rarely involve a huge target; they come from losing four or more wickets in the powerplay and then failing to rotate strike. Swing or grip with the new ball, plus sustained dot-ball pressure, is what ends an innings this early.
The Bottom Line
The lowest IPL total is 49, and after nineteen seasons it still looks untouchable. RCB set it on a swinging Eden Gardens morning in 2017, and the closest anyone has come since was Delhi's 75 in 2026, saved only by a lower-order stand. What the whole list shows is that these are bowling records dressed as batting failures: early wickets, dot-ball pressure, and a scoreboard that stops moving. As pitches get flatter and batting orders get deeper, the sub-70 total is becoming a rarer thing. The 49 may well be the one IPL record that never falls, which is exactly why the story behind it still matters.
