Mumbai Indians beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Monday, March 31, 2025.
Put in to bat, MI got off to a brilliant start, picking four wickets in the Powerplay overs and didn't lose the momentum as KKR were dismissed for a mere 116 in the 17th over.
In reply, MI made short work of the chase with Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav taking the team home in just 12.5 overs.
The batters that shone in the low-scoring encounter...
Ryan Rickelton
The South African batter was bought at this year's auction for Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) after his top performances for MI Cape Town in the SA20 competition -- 336 runs in 8 matches with a strike rate of 178.72.
On the back of his consistent showing, Rickelton was expected to fire in the IPL. He fell cheaply in the first two games but MI stuck with him and he repaid the faith at Wankhede on Monday.
Chasing a mere 117 for victory, the opener started off with a couple of streaky boundaries off left-arm seamer Spencer Johnson.
But he took little time to take control of the chase and the next over drilled Harshit Rana down the ground for a four and followed that up with a six over deep backward square leg.
The only bowler to whom he showed a semblance of respect was the ever accurate Varun Chakravarthy. Everyone else from Sunil Narine to Johnson, even Andre Russell, were treated with absolute disdain.
In the 10th over he pulled a Narine half-tracker for a six over deep mid-wicket to get to his maiden IPL half-century -- a 50 off just 33 balls.
An understudy of South Africa legend Hashim Amla, Rickelton kept cool even as he lost Rohit Sharma early in the innings.
He could have gotten flustered and made a meal of an easy chase. But he kept calm and made full use of a traditional wicket that despite some swing and bounce, was flat as a chapati, making run scoring a dream.
He did well to stay on unbeaten on 62 off 41 balls, hitting 4 fours and 5 sixes, scoring at a strike rate of 151.22.
Suryakumar Yadav
There was a hint of worry among MI fans about Suryakumar's form coming into the IPL 2025. Despite leading India to a series win, he had a string of poor scores in the T20I series against England.
With his numbers reading 0, 12, 14, 0 and 2, MI supporters were not optimistic about SKY's form.
But he put a lid on all the doubting Thomases with a good showing in the last game against Gujarat Titans on Saturday -- 48 off 28 on a tricky batting surface.
And he carried on from where he left off against the Titans. Coming in to bat at 90 for 2, MI wanted to finish things off quickly to have a better Net Run Rate and SKY did what the team expected of him.
It took him just one ball to get into the groove as the second ball he faced he played an outrageous scoop shot for a six!
He is not called a 360 player for nothing. Surya swept Narine for a four in the next over before operating in singles.
Without wasting much time he sent Andre Russell deliveries to all corners of the park.
The first ball was hoicked over the leg side for a four. That was followed up with a ramp over third man for a six.
SKY brought up the winning runs with a flick of his wrists, the ball sailing over fine leg for a six, the victory coming in just 12.5 overs.
En route his 9 ball 27 not out, he completed 8,000 runs in T20 cricket (8,007 runs at a strike rate of 152.28), becoming only the 5th Indian batter to get to the milestone.
Surya's form augurs well for MI, who will be hoping for a top-four finish after a disappointing time last season.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi
His maturity belies his age. Five days ago, on March 26, the 20 year old had played a good composed knock in a chase of 152 against the Rajasthan Royals, with an unbeaten 22 off 17.
On Monday against MI, the young batter had a different role to play. Batting first, his team were struggling at 15 for 2 in just the 2nd over.
He started his innings with back-to-back fours -- a flick through mid-wicket and a cut through backward point, a reminder of his good form.
Even as KKR lost Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer in quick succession, Raghuvanshi kept calm. On a track that is familiar to him -- he plays domestic cricket for Mumbai -- Raghuvanshi hit some delectable boundaries and rotated the strike.
He was removed by Hardik Pandya in the 5th over but did well for his 16-ball 26, playing with gumption and demonstrating to his teammates how to play on a pitch that wasn't really hard to bat on.
The only other KKR batter worth a mention is Ramandeep Singh, who came in at No. 9, hit a few blows, took the team past the 100-run mark and was eventually out for a 12-ball 22.
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