“Collective batting failure”: Ajinkya Rahane sums up Kolkata Knight Riders’ defeat against Mumbai Indians in three words
MUMBAI, India (AP) and Staff Writer — Mumbai Indians crushed defending champions the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets to finally post a win in the Indian Premier League on Monday.
Five-time champion Mumbai lost its first two games and turned its fortunes around thanks to debutant Ashwani Kumar, a left-arm pacer.
Kumar grabbed the best IPL bowling figures on debut — 4-24 — as Kolkata was routed for 116 runs in 16.2 overs.
Opener Ryan Rickelton then scored 62 not out off 41 balls to lead Mumbai to 121-2 in 12.5 overs with 7.1 overs to spare.
Kolkata suffered a second loss in three games.
Made to bat, Kolkata’s top order was dismantled by Mumbai’s pacers. Deepak Chahar, who picked up 2-19 in two overs, first sent back Quinton de Kock for 1. At the other end, Trent Boult bowled Sunil Narine for a two-ball duck.
Kumar’s first wicket was Kolkata skipper and Mumbai local Ajinkya Rahane for 11. When Chahar dismissed Venkatesh Iyer for 3, Kolkata was 41-4 in 5.4 overs.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi tried to stem the rot with 26 off 16 balls, but Kumar simply broke through the middle order.
Rinku Singh was caught in the deep for 17, and Manish Pandey was sent in as an impact substitute, but Kumar sent him back for 19. Any chance of a Kolkata revival vanished when Kumar bowled Andre Russell for 5.
Allrounder Ramandeep Singh’s 22 off 12 pushed Kolkata past 100, but it was still a dismal total.
KKR captain Ajinkya Rahane reacted to the team’s defeat. “Collective batting failure. It was a good wicket to bat on, and 180-190 would have been a good total to defend over here. You have to use the bounce. We will have to improve our performance quickly. We kept losing wickets and were four wickets down in powerplay overs. Our bowlers tried their best, but there were not enough runs on the board,” Ajinkya Rahane said on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, Star batter Rohit Sharma entered as an impact substitute for Mumbai but suffered another embarrassing stay at the crease. He scored only 13 off 12. Sharma has crossed 20 only once in his last 10 IPL innings.
Rickelton, though, was in fine form as he hit five sixes and four boundaries to steam to 50 off 33 balls, his maiden IPL half-century. He added 46 off 34 balls for the first wicket before Sharma was caught off Russell.
Will Jacks (16) put on 45 off 32 with Rickelton before he fell to Russell as well.
But Rickelton couldn’t be dug out, and Mumbai finally got to celebrate.
Mumbai next plays Lucknow SuperGiants on Friday, while Kolkata hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.
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