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IPL 2025: Rookies Ashwani and Rickelton lead Mumbai Indians to first win
Mumbai Indians (MI) got on the board in IPL 2025 with an eight-wicket victory over defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which took their record against those opponents at Wankhede Stadium to 10-2. The win was set up by the most unlikely source. A fast bowler named Ashwani Kumar picked up the best figures by an Indian on IPL debut – 4 for 24 – to knock KKR over for 116.
Ashwani is 23 years old. He had played only four T20s before. Naturally, he was nervous when he was told he would be playing this game. He didn’t eat lunch. It’s possible he may never do so on any match day given how well he performed and how superstitious cricketers can be. Ashwani picked up a wicket with his first ball, and it was the opposition captain Ajinkya Rahane. Over the course of a dream day, he took down Rinku Singh and Andre Russell as well. This league does not present any higher quality of wickets.
The most impressive thing about Ashwani was how hard he was to line up. He has an orthodox bowling action. His speeds were largely in the early to mid 130kph. Those are the kind of bowlers that get smashed around in the IPL. But try as they might, KKR were never able to do it. Ashwani came to prominence because of his performances in the Sher-E-Punjab T20 trophy last year, when he displayed an affinity for the death overs. Ashwani didn’t really bowl in that phase of the innings against KKR, but did show why he could find success in high-pressure situations. It was his control of length.
Rinku tried to take him down, but one ball after using his feet and hitting him for four, he was caught on the deep-point boundary. Ashwani pulled his length back to surprise the batter. Russell tried to take him down, but one ball after clearing his front leg and smacking him through the line, he was beaten by a bouncer and then bowled by a 140kph pitched-up delivery that surprised the batter again. Ashwani was innately aware of when to vary his lengths and was able to do so even when high-quality batters were attacking him and putting him under pressure.
Ashwani tripling his career tally of wickets – from two to six – over the course of one evening relegated everything else to the side. But he was merely exploiting a lovely platform set by two high-quality new-ball bowlers.
Trent Boult once again showed off the freakish ability he has to take wickets in the first over. For the 30th time in the IPL, he provided his team with a perfect start, rearranging Sunil Narine’s stumps. From the other end, Deepak Chahar took away Quinton de Kock’s strengths – hitting balls at the stumps over square leg – by keeping his lines wide and having him caught at mid-off.
KKR continued to attack, conscious that Wankhede Stadium is a chase-friendly venue. Despite those early wickets, they indulged in eight aggressive responses in the first four overs. Some worked. Some didn’t. This is T20 cricket in the modern age. There is very little holding back. Rinku could have. He fell playing a big shot right after finding the boundary, even though KKR only had Russell and Ramandeep Singh as recognised batters with nearly half the innings left to play.
Ryan Rickelton was beaten by each of the first four balls he faced. His first four came off an inside edge, first six off a top edge, and all of a sudden, it really did look like T20 cricket was flipping hard. A pitch that was supposed to be a belter – because of the pace and bounce on offer – was being harnessed by the fast bowlers on both sides to telling effect.
But with only 117 to chase, Rickelton could bide his time, and when his opportunity came – Harshit Rana trying too much to pick up wickets and giving away a slower-ball on the half volley – he nailed a straight drive and never looked back. Rickelton brought up fifty with a six off Narine, and was at the other end when Suryakumar Yadav brought up victory with a six. Rohit Sharma, though, had another failure, falling for 13. The worries around his batting form continues.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 121 for 2 in 12.5 overs (Rohit Sharma 13, Ryan Rickelton 62*, Will Jacks 16, Suryakumar Yadav 27*; Andre Russell 2-35) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 116 in 16.2 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 11, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 26, Rinku Singh 17, Manish Pandey 19, Ramandeep Singh 22; Trent Bou;t 1-23, Deepak Chahar 2-19, Ashwani Kumar 4-24, Hardik Pandya 1-10, Vignesh Puthur 1-21, Mitchell Santner 1-17) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
Four people have been reported killed in attacks by the United States on Yemen’s Hodeidah region, the latest deadly strikes against Houthi forces as the US announced the deployment of a second aircraft carrier and more warplanes to the Middle East.
Anees Alasbahi, a spokesman for the Houthi health minister, said three people were confirmed killed in the US attack on Tuesday night but that the death toll was preliminary.
“The American attack, which targeted the water management building in the district of al-Mansouriyah in the governorate of Hodeidah with several strikes on Tuesday resulted in three deaths and two injuries, mostly employees,” Alasbahi said.
The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV later reported that the death toll had risen to four. Local media reported that the Hajjah region in the northwest and Saada in the north had also been attacked.
The US has not confirmed that it carried out the attacks, which came after Al Masirah TV reported multiple US attacks hitting the Saada and Sanaa regions. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the Monday night attacks.
More than 60 people have been killed in Yemen since Washington launched a military offensive on March 15 against Houthi forces. The Yemeni armed group had threatened to renew attacking Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire in Gaza.
[Aljazeera]
The Colombo High Court has sentenced former Chief Minister of the North Central Province, S.M. Ranjith and his Private Secretary Shanthi Chandrasena to 16 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs. 200,000 each after they were found guilty of corruption charges.
The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery Or Corruption (CIABOC) had filed the case alleging that the former Chief Minister had illegally obtained Rs. 2,080,500 as fuel allowances during his tenure.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) bossed both the powerplays en route to their second successive win in IPL 2025. After opting to bowl on a fairly two-paced red-soil pitch, they left Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at 39 for 3 in six overs. Abdul Samad and Ayush Badoni helped LSG overcome that poor start and post 171 for 7, which was a par score according to Nicholas Pooran the holder of the Orange cap.
Pooran’s assessment, however, might have changed quickly after Prabhsimran Singh clattered a 23-ball half-century in the chase. Prabhsimran claimed 45 of the 62 runs PBKS had scored in the powerplay. There would be no way back for LSG, who suffered their second defeat in three games. Shreyas Iyer completed PBKS’ demolition job with an unbeaten 52 off 30 balls.
The first ball that Arshdeep Singh bowled to Mitchell Marsh stopped on him, seamed away from a leg-stump line, and had him skying a catch to Marco Jansen at short third. After having hit fifties in his first two innings this season, Marsh departed for a golden duck.
It was Lockie Ferguson who shared new-ball duties with Arshdeep, ahead of Jansen. Ferguson usually operates with the older ball for New Zealand and various franchises, but PBKS inverted his role on Tuesday to take advantage of a match-up with Pooran. Before this fixture, and across all T20s, Ferguson had snared Pooran four times in 17 balls at a strike rate of 7.05.
However, Ferguson ended up bowling just three balls to Pooran on the day. After being picked away for three fours by Aiden Markram, Ferguson bowled him via an inside edge for 28 off 18 balls.
With two left-handers in the form of Pooran and Risbah Pant in the middle, PBKS matched Glenn Maxwell’s offspin up with them. Maxwell removed Pant for the third time in four innings in the IPL. The IPL’s most expensive signing at INR 27 crore, Pant has managed just 17 runs in three innings at a strike rate of 65.38.
Despite wickets falling at the other end, Pooran remained positive, hitting Maxwell for back-to-back fours in the seventh over. A cat-and-mouse game then ensued between Pooran and Yuzvendra Chahal. The wristspinner’s plan was to hide the ball away from the swinging arc of Pooran with wrong’uns. In his first over, Pooran cracked his wrong ‘uns away for a brace of fours, but in his next Chahal had Pooran holing out to wide long-off for 44 off 30 balls with a loopier wrong ‘un.
When Jansen had his South African compatriot David Miller caught behind for 19 off 16 balls, LSG slipped further to 119 for 5 in the 16th over. Badoni and Samad then briefly changed the mood and tempo of the game with a 47-run partnership off only 21 balls. Samad had launched his first ball, from Jansen, for six after stepping out and then left jaws on the floor when he reverse-scooped Arshdeep over the keeper in the 18th over, which cost PBKS 20 runs. Arshdeep had both batters holing out in the final over, though, to keep PBKS below 180.
Prabhsimran relishes pace on the ball and it was no different on Tuesday. Unlike the first innings, the ball skidded onto the bat in the second, with Prabhsimran ramping Shardul Thakur and Avesh Khan for six and four respectively in the first two overs.
Pant responded by throwing mystery spinner Digyesh Rathi at Prabhsimran and Priyansh Arya. Rathi created a chance with his second ball, but Marsh fluffed an overhead catch at slip. The drop, though, cost LSG just one run as Rathi had Arya caught by Thakur at mid-on for 8.
Prabhsimran took down Ravi Bishnoi in the last over of the powerplay. He lined up his wrong ‘uns and slog-swept him with the turn over mid-on and square leg. He then greeted dart-it-in left-arm fingerspinner M Siddarth, who was picked ahead of Prince Yadav as LSG’s Impact Player, with a switch-hit four. He brought up his fifty in more sedate fashion with a tucked single.
It felt like LSG needed something special to dismiss Prabhsimran. That something special was a tag-team catch near the boundary from Badoni and Bishnoi. He holed out for 69 off 34 balls.
PBKS required 62 off 59 balls, which was enough for Iyer to knock off a fifty of his own. He forged an unbroken 67-run stand off 37 balls with Impact Player Nehal Wadhera to finish the job with more than three overs to spare.
PBKS established themselves as the early pace-setters, alongside Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC), in IPL 2025 with two wins in two games.
Brief scores:
Punjab Kings 177 for 2 in 16.2 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 69, Shreyas Iyer 52, Nehal Wadhera 43*; Divesh Rathi 2-30) beat Lucknow Super Giants 171 for 7 in 20 overs (Aiden Markram 28, Nicholas Pooran 44, Ayush Badoni 41, David Miller 19, Abdul Samad 2; Arshdeep Singh 3 for 43, Lockie Furgeson 1-26, Glenn Maxwell 1-22, Marco Jansen 1-28, Yuzvendra Chahal 1-36) by eight wickets
[Cricinfo]
US attacks kill 4 in Yemen as second aircraft carrier sent to Middle East
Former chief minister of North Central Province, SM Ranjith sentenced to 16 years RI
Showers above 100 mm are likely at some places in Central, North-western and North-central provinces and in Mannar and Vavuniya districts
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