On this day, March 31,2025: Ashwani Kumar shines as Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders. It was the 12th match of the IPL 2025 with KKR taking on Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium. Kolkata Knight Riders were batting first and were rocked early as they lost both their openers cheaply. Trent Boult and Deepak Chahar were excellent with the new ball and Kolkata were in early trouble at 2/2. Ashwani Kumar who was making his debut for Mumbai Indians came into bowl and stole the limelight.
Ashwani Kumar picked up his first IPL wicket by dismissing Ajinkya Rahane for 11. Deepak Chahar continued to bowl as Kolkata Knight Riders were reduced to 45/5 in seven overs and were in all sorts of trouble. Ashwani Kumar continued to impress as he picked up three more wickets. In the 11th over, Ashwani Kumar picked up the wickets of Rinku Singh and Manish Pandey to completely put KKR under pressure as they were 80/7 and were in danger of getting bowled out to a paltry total.
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Andre Russell was the next to depart as Ashwani Kumar delivered an excellent ball to castle the stumps. Kolkata Knight Riders were bowled out for 116 in 16.2 overs. Ashwani Kumar picked up 4/24 in his three over spell and was the star of the show for Mumbai Indians on his debut. It was a terrific performance from the left arm pacer.
Chasing a modest total of 116, Mumbai Indians lost Rohit Sharma cheaply but Ryan Rickelton smashed a half century to ensure Mumbai Indians cruised the chase. Suryakumar Yadav played a cameo of 27 runs off just nine balls as Mumbai Indians chased down the target within 13 overs to win the match by eight wickets. Ashwani Kumar was the player of the match for his excellent bowling performance.
