IPL 2025: Kumar's 4/24 leads MI to victory over KKR
What's the story
In a sensational debut, left-arm seamer Ashwani Kumar picked up 4/24, as the Mumbai Indians (MI) thrashed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 12 of the 2025 Indian Premier League (IPL) at Wankhede Stadium.
The defending champions were bundled out for a mere 116/6 while batting first.
MI comfortably chased down the total to record their maiden win this season.
Here are the key stats.
Pitch advantage
MI bowlers exploit Wankhede Stadium's conditions
The fresh pitch at Wankhede Stadium, which is known for its bounce and swing with a new ball, was exploited by the MI bowlers.
Trent Boult dismissed Sunil Narine with a fuller delivery that swung away in the first over.
Deepak Chahar then had Quinton de Kock caught at mid-off in the second over.
Match breakdown
KKR's batting falters under MI's relentless attack
At the end of the powerplay, KKR were at a precarious 41 for four.
Kumar played a pivotal role in the middle-order collapse by dismissing key players like Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, impact sub Manish Pandey and Andre Russell.
KKR's top scorer was Angkrish Raghuvanshi, who only scored 26 runs off 16 balls.
Chahar also took two wickets as KKR recorded the lowest score this season.
Chase
MI comfortably chased down the total
Chasing the paltry total, MI were off to a fine start with openers Rohit Sharma (13) and Ryan Rickelton (62*) adding 46 runs before the former departed.
Rickelton, meanwhile, went on to register his maiden IPL fifty.
Will Jacks (16) and Suryakumar Yadav (27*) made decent contributions as MI (121/2) prevailed in just 12.5 overs. Russell took both wickets.
Kumar
Kumar's debut performance sets new IPL record
Kumar finished with figures worth 4/24 from three overs as none of the KKR batters could touch the 30-run mark.
As per Cricbuzz, Kumar became the first Indian to take at least four wickets on his IPL debut.
With the wicket of KKR skipper Rahane, the 23-year-old became the fourth MI bowler to take a wicket with his debut delivery in IPL history.
Boult vs Narine
Boult traps Sunil Narine for fifth time (T20s)
On the fourth ball of the first over (1st innings), Boult bowled a full delivery at 136.2kph and dismissed Narine.
As per ESPNcricinfo, the left-arm pacer has now dismissed Narine five times across as many meetings in T20 cricket.
The batter has accumulated just 23 runs off 19 balls in this battle.
Four of these dismissals have come in the IPL. No other bowler has trapped the southpaw as many or more times.
Dominance
Boult leads in first-over wickets
Boult also owns a unique record as the highest wicket-taker in an IPL innings' first over.
He has taken 30 wickets at an average of 17.2 in this regard.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar follows closely with 27 first-over scalps, while no other bowler goes past 16 wickets in the opening over.
This just goes on to show Boult's impact on matches from the very start.
Rickelton
Rickelton's innings propels MI to victory
The southpaw remained unbeaten on 62 off 41 balls with the help of four fours and five maximums.
Rickelton, who made 6 and 13 in his first two games this season, has raced to 3,128 runs from 118 T20 games at 30.07, as per ESPNcricinfo.
His strike rate is 141.34 as the tally includes 21 fifties besides a ton. 263 of his runs have come in T20Is for South Africa at 20.23.
Yadav
Yadav crosses 8,000-run mark in T20 cricket
Suryakumar became the latest to complete 8,000 runs in men's T20 cricket.
SKY, who arrived at number four, scored an unbeaten 27 from just nine balls (3 fours, 2 sixes).
As per ESPNcricinfo, he has raced to 8,007 runs from 312 T20 matches at 34-plus with a strike rate of 152-plus.
Coming to his IPL record, SKY now owns 3,698 runs from 152 IPL encounters at an average of 32-plus (100s: 2, 50s: 24).
Information
First points for MI
With this win, MI have jumped to the sixth place in the standings, having recorded one win and two defeats (NRR: +0.309). Meanwhile, defending champions KKR also own two defeats and a win. However, this thumping defeat has pushed them to the last position (NRR: -1.428).
H2H
MI extend dominance vs KKR
Out of the 35 matches played between the two teams, MI have won a staggering 24 times.
No other side even owns 22 wins against a particular team in IPL.
MI have now claimed 10 wins against KKR across 12 games at home.
They became the first side to register 10 IPL wins against a team at a venue.
Notably, the Knight Riders won both their games against MI last year.
Twitter Post
Here is the points table!
IPL 2025 POINTS TABLE. 📈
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 31, 2025
- Defending Champions KKR at No.10. pic.twitter.com/5g2ssU0K7S