MI Ends 13-Year Opener Jinx, Chases 221 to Beat KKR by 6 Wickets

MI's Chase: Rohit, Rickelton, Thakur Shine

Mumbai Indians led a record chase against Kolkata Knight Riders, pursuing 221 in 19.1 overs and winning by 6 wickets. Rohit Sharma played an excellent innings of 78 off 38 balls, while Ryan Rickelton came in with a support knock of 81. It is notable that Rohit also surpassed the Virat Kohli record of most runs scored against the opponent team. Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma also gave match-winning performances. Naman Dhir ended the match with a stylish boundary, giving MI their first season-opener win since 2012 and also made their biggest chase ever in IPL history. Their previous biggest chase was 219 against Delhi Capitals in 2021.

KKR scored 220/4, fueled by Ajinkya Rahane's 67 off 40 with three fours and five sixes, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi's late surge with six boundaries. Rinku Singh finished with an unbeaten 33 off 21 balls. Opting to bowl, Shardul Thakur (3/39) took the most wickets for MI.

Hardik: 'Long Wait Over, Bowlers Brilliant!'

MI Captain Hardik Pandya is glad that MI ended the opening match 'jinx’.
He said, “Obviously it’s been a long wait [to win the season opener]. Everytime we’ve come we wanted to start the season on a high. The whole group is very glad we were able to do it. [On chasing big totals now] Modern cricket, plus we’ve seen what this wicket plays like. Credit to the bowlers, not letting KKR fly away to 240s or 250s. Those become tough targets but 220 is always chaseable. Rohit and Rickelton were outstanding. [On picking between Ricks and QDK] Ryan has done very well for us last year. And Quinny is a top man. He understood that we are backing the man, and having continuity. Glad it worked. Whenever I see Ro play some shots, it opens everyone’s mouth. Nothing short of excellent, nothing short of outstanding. [On Thakur] I told him, enough hopping franchises. You have to be here for the rest of your career. The way he outsmarts batters, the way he bowls, brilliant.”

MI & KKR Playing XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Cameron Green, Angkrish Raghuvanshi(w), Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora, Blessing Muzarabani
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI):Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton(w), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Naman Dhir, Shardul Thakur, Mayank Markande, AM Ghazanfar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah