IPL 7 amazing stats: Gautam Gambhir's 8th 'duck' and Sunil Narine's fastest 50!

Twenty20 cricket can make a mockery of your reputation. When Lasith Malinga 'castled' Gautam Gambhir in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday night, the Lankan not only gave defending Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians the start they were looking for but consigned the Kolkata Knight Riders skipper to a 'dubious' record of sorts. It was Gambhir's eighth zero in IPL and only one less than record holder leg-spinner Amit Mishra (9). (Related: Reuniting with Kallis helped me, says Manish Pandey)

Gambhir is actually in an 'exclusive' club of top batsmen with eight or more scores of zero. KKR teammates Manish Pandey and Jacques Kallis also have scored eight ducks and so has disbanded Pune Warriors' leg-spinner Rahul Sahrma. Interestingly, both Pandey (64) and Kallis (72) were architects of KKR's 41-run win in the IPL 7 opener. (Also read: Gambhir says KKR can be lethal)

This victory was KKR's biggest in terms of runs over Mumbai and their sixth biggest in IPL. KKR's largest win is by 140 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 18, 2008. (Highlights from the match | Scorecard | Match report | Pics)

Malinga's four wickets for 23 was the best by a Mumbai bowler against Kolkata, but his effort was upstaged by Sunil Narine. The Caribbean offie sent back four accomplished Mumbai batsmen caught in a web of spin. Mumbai managed just 122 (KKR scored 163/5) in their 20 overs and Narine became the first KKR bowler to complete 50 wickets in IPL. Narine's tally of 50 wickets (ave.13.88) in 32 matches is also the quickest in IPL. (Related: Why Malinga cursing after KKR loss)

The following are some interesting statistics from the KKR vs MI match:

# Narine is the only Kolkata bowler to produce five instances of four wickets or more in an innings at the IPL.

# Jacques Kallis (72 off 46 balls) posted his 17th fifty at the IPL. His aggregate of 2348 (ave.29.35) in 91 matches is the fifth highest at the IPL - the highest being Suresh Raina's tally - 2802 at an average of 35.02 in 99 matches.

# Kallis' innings was his 27th fifty in Twenty20.

# Kallis got his 16th Man of the Match award in Twenty20.

# Mumbai's 122 for seven was their second lowest vs Kolkata at the IPL - the lowest being 108 at Mumbai on May 16, 2012.

# Manish Pandey completed 1,000 runs at the IPL - his tally being 1059 (ave.25.82) in 63 matches.

# Pandey (64 off 53 balls) registered his fifth innings of fifty-plus (a hundred and four fifties) at the IPL. In Twenty20, he has recorded a hundred and nine fifties.

# Lasith Malinga took his tally to 107 (ave.17.49) in 74 matches, extending his IPL record. Amit Mishra, with 95 wickets at 20.25 runs apiece in 76 matches, has the next best IPL tally.

# Malinga's wicket-aggregate of 245 (ave.17.80) in 182 games is a record for most wickets in Twenty20.

(With inputs from Rajesh Kumar)