Rookies Ashwani and Rickelton lead MI to first win

By Alagappan Muthu, Apr 1(ESPN CRICINFO): Mumbai Indians (MI) got on the board in IPL 2025 with an eight-wicket victory over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which took their record against those opponents at Wankhede Stadium to 10-2. The win was set up by the most unlikely source.

A fast bowler named Ashwani Kumar picked up the best figures by an Indian on his IPL debut - 4 for 24 - to knock KKR over for 116.

Mumbai Indians 121 for 2 (Rickelton 62*, Russell 2-35) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 116 (Raghuvanshi 26, Ashwani 4-24) by eight wickets

Debutant Ashwani's dream day

Ashwani is 23 years old. He had played only four T20s before. Naturally, he was nervous when he was told he would be playing this game. He didn't eat lunch. It's possible he may never do so on any match day given how well he performed and how superstitious cricketers can be.

Ashwani picked up a wicket with his first ball, and it was the opposition captain Ajinkya Rahane. Over the course of a dream day, he took down Rinku Singh and Andre Russell as well. This league does not present any higher quality of wickets.

The most impressive thing about Ashwani was how hard he was to line up. He has an orthodox bowling action. His speeds were largely in the early to mid 130kph. Those are the kind of bowlers that get smashed around in the IPL. But try as they might, KKR were never able to do it.

Ashwani came to prominence because of his performances in the Sher-E-Punjab T20 trophy last year, when he displayed an affinity for the death overs. Ashwani didn't really bowl in that phase of the innings against KKR but did show why he could find success in high-pressure situations. It was his control of length.

Rinku tried to take him down, but one ball after using his feet and hitting him for four, he was caught on the deep-point boundary. Ashwani pulled his length back to surprise the batter. Russell tried to take him down, but one ball after clearing his front leg and smacking him through the line, he was beaten by a bouncer and then bowled by a 140kph pitched-up delivery that surprised the batter again. Ashwani was innately aware of when to vary his lengths and was able to do so even when high-quality batters were attacking him and putting him under pressure.

Boult continues romance

Ashwani tripling his career tally of wickets - from two to six - over the course of one evening relegated everything else to the side. But he was merely exploiting a lovely platform set by two high-quality new-ball bowlers.

Trent Boult once again showed off the freakish ability he has to take wickets in the first over. For the 30th time in the IPL, he provided his team with a perfect start, rearranging Sunil Narine's stumps. From the other end, Deepak Chahar took away Quinton de Kock's strengths - hitting balls at the stumps over square leg - by keeping his lines wide and having him caught at mid-off.

KKR continued to attack, conscious that Wankhede Stadium is a chase-friendly venue. Despite those early wickets, they indulged in eight aggressive responses in the first four overs. Some worked. Some didn't. This is T20 cricket in the modern age. There is very little holding back. Rinku could have. He fell playing a big shot right after finding the boundary, even though KKR only had Russell and Ramandeep Singh as recognised batters with nearly half the innings left to play.

Rickelton fifty

Ryan Rickelton was beaten by each of the first four balls he faced. His first four came off an inside edge, his first six off a top edge, and all of a sudden, it really did look like T20 cricket was flipping hard. A pitch that was supposed to be a belter - because of the pace and bounce on offer - was being harnessed by the fast bowlers on both sides to telling effect.

But with only 117 to chase, Rickelton could bide his time, and when his opportunity came - Harshit Rana trying too much to pick up wickets and giving away a slower-ball on the half volley - he nailed a straight drive and never looked back. Rickelton brought up fifty with a six off Narine and was at the other end when Suryakumar Yadav brought up victory with a six. Rohit Sharma, though, had another failure, falling for 13. The worries around his batting form continue.