Mumbai, March 29 – Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton starred with brilliant half-centuries as Mumbai Indians defeated Kolkata Knight Riders to win their season opener after 13 years in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
Shardul Thakur claimed 3 wickets for 39 in his debut match for the franchise. Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51), posted 220/4 before being bowled out. Rohit Sharma smashed 78 off 38 balls, and Rickelton scored 81 off 43 balls, helping Mumbai Indians win by six wickets in the second match of IPL 2026.
Chasing 221, Mumbai Indians were guided by a strong opening partnership between Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton, who scored 224/4 in 19.1 overs, securing their first victory since 2012 at the Wankhede Stadium.
Rohit Sharma delivered a vintage performance, scoring a rapid 50 off 23 balls, with three fours and five sixes, giving the team a strong start. He also became the fourth player to score a half-century in the IPL.
Rohit's 50th half-century in 268 IPL matches, following Virat Kohli (73 in 261), David Warner (66 in 184), and Shikhar Dhawan (53 in 221).
Rickelton reached his fifty off 24 balls, with two fours and six sixes, matching Rohit's aggressive style.
Rohit, after smashing six fours and six sixes in a dominant innings, got out trying to slog Vaibhav Arora in the 12th over, but managed to top-edge the ball, and Anukul Roy caught it, running back from mid-on and taking a brilliant catch.
The 38-year-old and Rickelton added 148 runs for their opening partnership in 72 balls, giving Mumbai a strong start.
Although Suryakumar Yadav, India's T20 World Cup-winning player, came in as an Impact Substitute for Jasprit Bumrah, he only contributed 16 runs in his eight balls.
Rickelton continued his aggressive form, scoring 81 off 43 balls with two fours and six sixes before being run out by Anukul Roy, blocked by Muzarabani after Tilak Varma refused a second. Mumbai were 184/3 in the 16th over, firmly in control.
Although Tilak Varma was out for 20 trying to finish the match, captain Hardik Pandya (18 not out) helped them win with a boundary in the final over.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders' opening pair of Rahane and Finn Allen exploded with 54 runs in 18 balls, reaching their first fifty against Mumbai Indians in 23 balls.
Hardik Pandya introduced Afghan mystery spinner AM Ghazanfar, and the bowler was smashed for 17 runs in his first over, with Allen hitting two sixes and a four.
Things worsened in the next over as Rahane hit two sixes off Pandya in the fourth over, while Allen also hit boundaries off successive balls, helping Kolkata score 26 runs.
Shardul Thakur made the breakthrough in the sixth over, getting Allen (37, 17b, 6x4, 2x6) caught at long-on, ending the Power-play at 78/1. Rahane and Allen added 69 runs for the opening wicket, setting the stage for a big total.
Cameron Green's first innings as the costliest overseas player in IPL history lasted only 10 balls and fetched 18 runs as Thakur took the pace off a delivery that bounced a bit, and Green's slap-shot went down the throat of Sherfane Rutherford at deep cover. Rahane and Green added 40 runs for the second wicket.
Rahane continued his good form, reaching his fifty in 27 balls, with three boundaries and four sixes. The fall of two wickets slowed down Rahane, but he managed to rebuild with Angkrish Raghuvanshi, but that did not materialize as the skipper was next to fall.
Thakur took his third wicket of the night, getting Rahane inside-out on a cross-seam full delivery, back-tracking to take a simple catch.
KKR lost momentum, but Raghuvanshi hit Ghazanfar for a four, dropped by Rohit Sharma near the long-on boundary rope, and six straight down in the next ball, adding more insult to injury. He also hit Thakur for a six in the 17th over before Rinku Singh struck a four three balls later, raising 50 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.
Raghuvanshi reached his fifty off 28 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes, before slicing Pandya in the air to Tilak Varma as KKR crossed the 200-run mark.
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.