Mumbai Indians 224 for 4 (Rickelton 81, Rohit 78, Narine 1-30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 220 for 4 (Rahane 67, Raghuvanshi 51, Allen 37, Rinku 33*, Thakur 3-39) by six wickets
Before Sunday, Mumbai Indians (MI) had never chased down a 220-plus target in their previous seven attempts. And they had never won their opening game of the IPL since 2012. On day two of IPL 2026, MI broke both jinxes as they chased down 221 in 19.1 overs to begin their season with a comfortable six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Rohit Sharma wound back the clock, smashing 78 off 38 balls, while Ryan Rickelton thumped 81 off 43, the duo adding 148 runs for the opening wicket off just 71 balls.
That KKR were coming into this opening game severely depleted on the bowling front was known. The extent of it was visible on Sunday night with Vaibhav Arora and Blessing Muzarabani toothless, Varun Chakravarthy ineffective, and Sunil Narine a shadow of his former self.
At the halfway mark, KKR might have been happy reaching 220 for 4, their second-highest score against MI in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane, who at the toss said that he had "never seen so much of grass at Wankhede", scored 67 off 40 balls while Angkrish Raghuvanshi, another Mumbai lad, made 51 off 29 as KKR got a big total on the board. But against a KKR unit missing several of their frontline seamers, MI barely had any hiccups, completing the highest-successful IPL chase at the Wankhede with five balls to spare.
Rohit turns back the clock
It was a typical Rohit innings that Wankhede has witnessed so many times, laced with some of the most pristine shots. He was on 12 off eight at one stage, but once in, he lit up Mumbai like only he can.
Coming into the game, he had a strike rate of under 100 against Varun in T20s. So what did he do? He lofted the spinner inside-out over the covers first ball and then lifted him for six the next ball. By the time the powerplay was done, Rohit had raced to a 23-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL, and MI's chase was on course.
They raced to 80 in the first six, past 100 in 8.1 overs and by the time Rohit fell, thanks to a smart catch by Anukul Roy running back from mid-off, MI's required rate had fallen below nine, which at the start of the innings was above 11.
Rickelton justifies selection
There were a few raised eyebrows when Rickelton was picked over the more experienced Quinton de Kock, but he justified his selection. Rickelton needed just the first couple of overs to get a hang of the surface and once he did, there was no stopping him. He deposited Arora for back-to-back sixes, one over extra cover and then over deep midwicket, and that kickstarted a brutal takedown of the KKR bowlers.
While he saw Rohit do his thing in the powerplay, Rickelton took on Narine after the six-over mark. He slog swept him over deep midwicket in his first over and then launched him over the ropes twice in three balls in the next to raise a 24-ball fifty.
He didn't stop there and only fell courtesy a stunning direct hit from the deep by Roy. Suryakumar Yadav, the Impact Sub, came and went, but Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma took MI closer. Hardik finished on an unbeaten 18 off 11 balls, while Naman Dhir hit the winning runs off Roy as MI started their IPL 2026 in style.
Ambati Rayudu says that the batter has developed the skills to bat at No.4
Rahane and Allen go bang-bang
Finn Allen brought his stellar international form to the IPL. After facing five dot balls against Hardik, he went after MI debutant AM Ghazanfar, pumping him to the deep square fence and then spanking him for an 86-metre six over wide long-on. Another six capped off Ghazanfar's opening over. Rahane then went after Hardik, thumping him for back-to-back sixes and Allen then got on strike and went 4, 4, 4. A monster 26-run over against Hardik helped KKR race past fifty in 3.5 overs, their fastest against MI in the IPL.
Shardul Thakur, on MI debut, then brought his experience into play and sent back Allen, who shovelled a slower length ball to long-off, but Rahane carried on. He struck two fours off Thakur as KKR finished on 78 for 1 in six overs.
Thakur and Raghuvanshi shine
Two Mumbai boys on opposite ends were critical to their team's cause. After removing Allen, Thakur sent back Cameron Green, whose innings lasted just ten balls, and he then dismissed Rahane with a hard-length delivery outside off that was mistimed to extra cover. At this point, KKR were still going at over ten an over but had lost steam, thanks to some terrific bowling from Bumrah, Trent Boult and Thakur.
Enter the other Mumbai boy, Raghuvanshi. He was on 17 off 14 at one stage but found a new lease of life after being dropped by Rohit at long-on. He closed out the 15th over with a four and a six against Ghazanfar and then launched Thakur over long-on. Raghuvanshi added 60 off 30 balls with Rinku Singh for the fourth wicket, reaching his fifty off 28 balls as KKR raced past 200 in the 19th over.
Rinku struck unbeaten on 33 off 21 as KKR finished strong, but it wasn't enough.
