Mumbai, March 29 – Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton scored brilliant half-centuries to help the Mumbai Indians win by six wickets against the Kolkata Knight Riders in Match 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, ending their embarrassing streak of losing their opening match in 13 seasons.
After pacer Shardul Thakur had taken 3-39 to restrict KKR, with captain Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51) scoring half-centuries, Rohit Sharma hit a majestic 78 off 38 balls, and Rickelton blasted 81 off 43 balls as the Mumbai Indians reached 224/4 in 19.1 overs to secure their first victory of the season.
It was a vintage Rohit Sharma performance, as the former captain delivered a sensational innings, even after quitting the international stage.
Rohit Sharma scored a 50 off 23 balls, his fastest in IPL, hitting three fours and five sixes, giving the team a brilliant start. He also became the fourth player to score a half-century of 50+ runs in IPL.
This was Rohit's 50th half-century in 268 IPL matches, joining the club led by Virat Kohli (73, 261 matches), David Warner (66 in 184), and Shikhar Dhawan (53 in 221).
After two steady overs in which Rohit scored 12 runs off eight balls, the former India captain launched into the KKR bowlers. Rohit first hit Vaibhav Arora for a six, followed by his opening partner, Ryan Rickelton, hitting back-to-back sixes off Arora.
Rohit's second six came when he backed away and hit Blessings Muzarabani over deep backward point. The third came when Rohit backed away and hit Muzarabani over deep backward point. He then hit three more sixes, lofting Varun Chakravarthy over covers and then helping him over square-leg. Another six against Impact substitute Kartik Tyagi, hitting him for a six, as the Mumbai Indians reached 80/0 in the Power-play.
On the other end, Rickelton raced to his fifty off 24 balls, hitting two fours and six sixes, matching Rohit shot for shot.
Rohit, who scored three fours and one six after reaching his fifty, was the first to get out, trying to slog Arora in the 12th over, but managed to top-edge it, and Anukul Roy hung on to a superb catch, running back from mid-on and had to put in a full-length dive to hold on to that. The 38-year-old scored a superb 78 off 38 balls, hitting six boundaries and as many maximums. Rohit and Rickelton smashed 148 runs for the opening wicket partnership off 72 balls, giving Mumbai a fabulous start.
Though India's T20 World Cup-winning Suryakumar Yadav did not contribute much, coming in as an Impact Substitute for his teammate Jasprit Bumrah. Surya struck three fours in his eight-ball 16.
Rickelton continued to torment KKR as he hit two fours and two more sixes before getting out for 81 off 43 balls, before he was run out to a direct hit by Anukul Roy, blocked by Muzarabani as he tried to get to the non-striker end after Tilak Varma refused a call for second. Mumbai were 184/3 in the 16th over and firmly on the road to victory.
Though Tilak Varma was out for 20 trying to seal victory with a big one, skipper Hardik Pandya (18 not out) helped them cross the line with a four in the final over.
KKR's efforts in the field were hampered a bit by the absence of skipper Rahane, who went off the field after suffering cramps.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 220/4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 67, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Finn Allen 37, Rinku Singh 33 not out; Shardul Thakur 3-39) lost to Mumbai Indians 224/4 in 19.1 overs (Ryan Rickelton 81, Rohit Sharma 78; Kartik Tyagi 1-43) by six wickets.