Ashwani Kumar's dream debut helps MI crush KKR

Hardik Pandya may have momentarily forgotten the name of his debutant at the toss, but 23-year-old Ashwani Kumar made sure he wouldn't be easily forgotten going forward. The left-arm seamer from Punjab delivered a match-winning spell, claiming 4 for 24 as Mumbai Indians bundled Kolkata Knight Riders out for a paltry 116, a target they chased down with ease courtesy an unbeaten half-century from Ryan Rickelton to register their first win of IPL 2025.

Where was the game won?

Where most games in T20 are: the difference in two PowerPlays couldn't have been more stark. While MI rocked KKR after winning the toss, taking four wickets, they knocked down almost half of the target inside the PowerPlay. It was a canter.

Kolkata Knight Riders

PowerPlay: MI rock KKR early

Phase Score: 41/4 [RR: 6.83, 4s/6s: 4/2]

Trent Boult set the tone early, claiming his 30th IPL first-over wicket by dismantling Sunil Narine's stumps with a swinging full delivery. MI's dominance continued as Deepak Chahar struck twice, while debutant Ashwani made an immediate impact, dismissing KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane with his very first ball. The collapse left KKR reeling at the lowest PowerPlay score of the season.

Middle Overs: Ashwani runs riot

Phase Score: 60/5 [RR: 6.67, 4s/6s: 5/2]

KKR's troubles deepened as Hardik Pandya dismissed the dangerous Angkrish Raghuvanshi (26 off 16) with a short ball and a well-placed fielder in the deep. Forced to bolster their batting, KKR introduced Manish Pandey as an impact substitute, but it made little difference. Ashwani stole the show in this phase, expertly setting up and dismissing key batters. He got Rinku Singh caught at deep cover before outfoxing both Manish Pandey and Andre Russell with short balls followed by well-directed length deliveries that crashed into the stumps. His dream spell left KKR in tatters.

Death Overs: Santner cleans up

Phase Score: 15/1 [RR: 12.5, 4s/6s: 0/2]

Ramandeep Singh briefly counterattacked with two sixes, but Mitchell Santner wrapped up the innings with 22 balls to spare, capping off a dominant bowling display by MI.

Mumbai Indians

PowerPlay: Rickelton gets chase on track

Phase Score: 55/1 [RR: 9.17, 4s/6s: 3/4]

KKR's new-ball duo, Spencer Johnson and Harshit Rana, found prodigious swing and consistently beat the bat, but an early breakthrough eluded them. Ryan Rickelton eventually broke the shackles, taking on Johnson for a six and a four before going one better against Rana in the following over, smashing a six and two boundaries. The only setback for MI came in the form of their former skipper Rohit Sharma, who struggled for fluency before falling to a well-directed short ball from Andre Russell.

Middle Overs: Chase sealed with 43 balls to spare

Phase Score: 66/1 [RR: 9.66, 4s/6s: 4/5]

Rickelton had no intention of dragging the chase deep. He took on Narine with a slog-swept six in the seventh over and then hammered two more in the 10th to bring up his maiden IPL half-century off just 33 balls. Russell struck again to remove Will Jacks, but Suryakumar Yadav arrived in blazing form, smashing an unbeaten 27 off just nine balls to seal the chase with 7.1 overs to spare.

Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 116 in 16.2 overs (Angkrish Raghuvanshi 26; Ashwani Kumar 4-24, Deepak Chahar 2-19) lost to Mumbai Indians 121/2 in 12.5 overs (Ryan Rickelton 62*, Suryakumar Yadav 27*; Andre Russell 2-35 ) by 8 wickets.

What's next for the teams?

Mumbai Indians will be on the road once more, this time to play LSG at the Ekana Stadium on April 4. KKR will head back home to face SRH on April 3 in a rematch of last year's final.