Ashwani Kumar powers Mumbai Indians to their first IPL win of the season.

MUMBAI April 1, 2025: A stellar debut performance by medium pacer Ashwani Kumar led IPL giants Mumbai Indians to their first victory of the season on Monday, defeating Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets.

Kumar's figures of 4-24 — along with a disciplined team bowling effort — restricted the Kolkata side to a modest 116, a target Mumbai chased down with more than seven overs to spare.

“We believed Ashwani could come in and bowl the way he did on this pitch. It’s all thanks to the scouts — they identified him,” said Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya.

“They’ve been scouting players everywhere, bringing in these young talents. In a practice game, he showed that zip, late swing, something off the pitch, and with his unique action, being a left-arm pacer, he impressed us.”

South African wicketkeeper-batsman Ryan Rickelton led Mumbai’s chase, scoring a brisk 62 off 41 balls, which included five sixes.

In their first home match of the season, Mumbai dominated from the start, with New Zealand pacer Trent Boult dismissing opener Sunil Narine in the first over.

Narine’s in-form opening partner, Quinton de Kock, followed shortly after, caught attempting to loft Deepak Chahar.

Captain Ajinkya Rahane soon departed as well, slicing a wide and full delivery from Kumar to deep backward point after scoring 11 off seven balls.

Middle-order batter Venkatesh Iyer struggled to get going, dismissed for just three off nine balls.

Left-hander Angkrish Raghuvanshi batted confidently for his 26 runs but couldn’t convert, leaving Kolkata at a precarious 45-5 after seven overs.

Despite some resistance from impact substitute Manish Pandey (19 off 14) and the aggressive Rinku Singh (17 off 14), Kolkata’s innings never recovered.

A late cameo from Ramandeep Singh (22 off 12) helped Kolkata reach a triple-digit score, but it was too little, too late, with the innings folding in the 17th over.

“Collective batting failure; it was a good pitch to bat on, and a total of 180-190 would have been competitive,” said Kolkata captain Ajinkya Rahane.

In contrast, Mumbai got off to a fast start, although India batter Rohit Sharma once again failed to make an impact, scoring only 13 off 12 balls.

England all-rounder Will Jacks, who replaced Sharma, responded with a six on his second ball, over fine leg, effectively extinguishing any hopes of a Kolkata comeback.

Jacks (16 off 17) and Rickelton added 45 runs to bring Mumbai closer to the target.

T20 specialist Suryakumar Yadav then blasted a quick 27 off just nine balls, ensuring Mumbai crossed the line without any further issues.