In a commanding performance at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai Indians (MI) cruised to an easy eight-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the IPL 2025 match on Monday. Debutant Ashwani Kumar was the star of the show, taking four wickets and dismantling the KKR batting lineup. His exceptional bowling led to KKR being restricted to a low total of just 116 runs in 16.2 overs.
Hardik Pandya, who won the toss, opted to bowl first, and his bowlers delivered. The pacers, especially Ashwani, were in fine form, with Trent Boult getting the breakthrough early by dismissing Sunil Narine. Deepak Chahar followed up by removing Quinton de Kock. However, it was Ashwani’s fiery spell that broke KKR’s back, as he took out key players like Ajinkya Rahane (11), Rinku Singh (17), Manish Pandey (19), and Andre Russell (5). Alongside him, Vignesh Puthur and Boult contributed with tight spells, with Puthur picking up the wicket of Harshit Rana.
Chasing a modest total, MI’s opening pair of Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton made a confident start. Although Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just 13 runs by Andre Russell, Rickelton played a brilliant knock, finishing unbeaten on 62 runs. Suryakumar Yadav provided the finishing touches with a quick-fire 27 off just 9 balls, including a six off the last ball, securing the win for MI in just 12.5 overs.
MI’s bowlers dominated the match with Ashwani’s outstanding 4/24, while Deepak Chahar and Vignesh Puthur also impressed with their economical bowling, as KKR’s efforts fell short. The game highlighted MI’s all-round dominance as they comfortably chased down the target with eight wickets in hand.
