Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their first victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Wankhade cricket stadium on Monday (March 31).
Left-arm pacer Ashwani Kumar starred with the ball in MI’s eight-wicket win. He returned with the figures of 4/24 (3 overs) on debut, restricting KKR to just 116 runs in 16.2 overs.
In reply, Mumbai overhauled the target in 12.5 overs, with Ryan Rickelton scoring a half-century (62* off 41) and Suryakumar Yadav (27* off 9) delivering a rapid cameo.
After the win, Rickelton expressed his awe for one of the shots Suryakumar played in his whirlwind knock. The MI opener said he could never even dream of trying to bat like Surya as the latter is a "joke".
Surya’s innings included three boundaries and two sixes, with the highlight being the maximum he hit against Andre Russell to get off the mark.
Facing a length delivery on the fifth stump, Suryakumar took a big stride forward and transferred his upper body weight to the backfoot to execute a half scoop six over fine leg.
"I just said to Quinny (de Kock) that SKY (Surya) is a joke, stuff that I can’t do, stuff that I can’t dream of. He has played that shot many a time, I’m not going to try it but I’m glad that he is in our team," Rickelton said in praise of Surya.
With the victory, Mumbai Indians climbed to sixth place on the 10-team points table, boosting their confidence ahead of their next clash against Lucknow Super Giants on April 4.
