Published: March 29, 2026 at 11:42 pm
After Virat Kohli, it was the turn of Rohit Sharma to steal the thunder as he powered Mumbai Indians to a comfortable six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the second IPL game at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday night. It was a big chase again for the second consecutive day, but the side batting second made it look like a walk in the park.
It is still early days, but one wonders what an ideal defendable total in the IPL 2026 season will be. In the opener on Saturday, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) chased down Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) 202 with much ease. On Sunday, Mumbai Indians displayed their batting might as they ran down a formidable 220 set by Kolkata Knight Riders.
Once upon a time anything over 180 was a more than challenging total and in most cases it was defendable. But with the tracks, being provided for the IPL, become flatter, a 200-plus score is no longer safe. In a sense, it is killing the contest between bat and ball and making the bowlers’ role redundant.
Ryan Rickelton, who was preferred ahead of Quinton de Kock, scored a 43-ball 81 with four boundaries and eight over the ropes to take Mumbai Indians to a comfortable victory. Pics: BCCI/IPL
Rohit and Ryan on a song
Chasing 221 for victory, Mumbai Indians began with a bang as Rohit and Ryan Rickelton showed no mercy on the Kolkata Knight Riders attack. Whatever the Knight Riders’ openers Ajinkya Rahane and Finn Allen did, the Mumbai pair did even better. Knight Riders got 78 in the powerplay and the Indians achieved 80.
There is not much a bowler can do when Rohit is on a song. On Sunday, he was put up a literal ‘dance and light’ show at the Wankhede with his flawless strokeplay. With Rickelton joining the party, the Knight Riders were left high and dry. Adding to their woe was the fact that skipper Rahane had to leave the field because of a niggle.
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Rohit and Rickelton added a whopping 148 off just 72 balls for the first wicket which more or less killed the contest. Rohit contributed 78 off 38 balls with six fours and six sixes before falling to Vaibhav Arora. Rickelton, who was preferred ahead of Quinton de Kock, scored a 43-ball 81 with four boundaries and eight over the ropes. The hosts finished with 224 for four in 19.1 overs. Mumbai Indians, in the process, won their first season opener since 2012.
“Feeling okay but lot of cramps, especially my calves. Hopefully I’ll be okay. It was really tough for the bowlers. It is an inexperienced bowling attack, but these boys will learn. They were up against a strong batting lineup. So, it’s a learning curve. I thought MI batted well. So, our bowlers will definitely learn,” said Rahane.
Varun Chakravarthy woes continued as he has gone for 273 runs from 23 overs in his last six T20s. His economy of 11.86 in these games is the worst for a spinner to have bowled at least 120 balls in six successive matches in all T20s.
Ajinkya Rahane scored his 34th IPL half-century but the effort was not sufficient to help Kolkata Knight Riders pull off a win
Earlier, after a blazing start to the innings, Kolkata Knight Riders failed to encash on it and ended up 220 for four in their 20 overs. They fell 15 to 20 runs short of what they should have achieved but all credit to the Mumbai attack which slowed down the tempo in the later part of the innings.
Rahane and Allen go hammer and tongs
Rahane had lost the toss and was asked to bat first by rival skipper Hardik Pandya. The Mumbaikar took up the challenge and whipped the third ball of the innings over the mid-on for a six, the first runs scored off the bat, and that set the tone for the Knight Riders’ innings.
Along with Finn Allen, Rahane went hammer and tongs against the Mumbai Indians attack. The duo kept dispatching the cherry to all parts of the ground as runs flowed in torrents via boundaries.
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Allah Ghazanfar, the Afghan mystery spinner, came to bowl in the third over and conceded 17 runs as Allen hit him for four and two sixes. From 31 in three overs, Knight Riders jumped to 57 in the next over as Mumbai skipper Pandya was hit for 26 runs. Rahane slammed his counterpart for two sixes and then Allen struck three fours in the overs.
This turned out to be the fastest fifty for Knight Riders in their IPL history. A hapless Pandya turned to his golden arm Jasprit Bumrah to stem the flow of runs and the pacer responded as he conceded only 11 in his first over.
Lord Shardul slays the Knight Riders
But it was Shardul Thakur who lorded over the Knight Riders. He struck in his first over when he had Allen caught by Tilak Varma at wide long-on. Allen by then had struck six fours and two sixes in his 17-ball 37.
Shardul Thakur broke the opening partnership and finished with figures of three for 39 to halt the Kolkata Knight Riders’ advance
Knight Riders finished the powerplay with 78 for one on the board. However, things began to slow down as Cameroon Green was unable to step up the pace. He ended up becoming Thakur’s second wicket as he picked up the lone man at deep cover in the form of Sherfane Rutherford to depart for 18.
Rahane, in the meantime, went on to notch up his 34th IPL half-century. With the scoring slowing down considerably, Rahana tried to perk up the tempo but perished in the attempt. He was done in by fellow Mumbaikar Thakur. Rahane tried to go inside out but the ball came off the toe end and Pandya at cover took a simple catch. Rahane’s 67 came off 40 balls with three fours and five majestic sixes.
After the departure of Rahane, young Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who was quite subdued till now, changed gears. He and Rinku Singh stepped up the pace as they added 60 off just 30 balls with Raghuvanshi scoring 34 of those runs. The Mumbai boy went on to complete his third IPL half-century but was dismissed off the very next ball by Pandya. Raghuvanshi scored 51 off 29 balls with six fours and two sixes.
Rinku Singh remained unbeaten on 33 off 21 balls with four boundaries.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 220 for four in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 67, Finn Allen 37, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Rinku Singh 33 not out; Shardul Thakur 3/39) lost to Mumbai Indians 224 for four in 19.1 overs (Ryan Rickelton 81, Rohit Sharma 78, Tilak Varma 20).
