In the second game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton scored scintillating half-centuries to lead the Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders, breaking a sad streak of 13 seasons without winning their opening match.
The Mumbai Indians reached 224/4 in 19. 1 overs, thanks to Rickelton’s explosive 81 off 43 balls and Rohit Sharma’s spectacular 78 off 38 balls. This gave them their first season-opening victory since 2012. The Mumbai Indians’ rampage was previously brought to a halt by pacer Shardul Thakur, who had 3-39 wickets, while KKR’s skipper Ajinkya Rahane (67) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (51) each scored half-centuries.
Just as everyone was wondering how long he would keep playing in T20 after retiring from international cricket, the former captain rolled back the years with a stunning knock in the Rohit Sharma style of old.
Rohit Sharma gave the team a great start by smashing a 23-ball fifty, his fastest in the IPL, with three fours and five sixes. In IPL, he also became the fourth batsman to reach a half-century of 50+ scores.
With this, Rohit has now scored 50 half-centuries in 268 IPL games, putting him in the company of Virat Kohli (73, 261 matches), David Warner (66 in 184), and Shikhar Dhawan (53 in 221).
The former India captain unleashed on the KKR bowlers following two solid overs in which Rohit collected 12 runs off eight balls. Before Ryan Rickelton, his opening partner, put Arora down for consecutive sixes, Rohit initially pulled him into the stands.
When Rohit retreated and slashed Blessings Muzarabani over deep backward point, he hit his second six. The third occurred when Rohit retreated and scythed Muzarabani over deep backward point. He lofted Varun Chakravarthy over covers before assisting him over square-leg, scoring three more sixes. As the Mumbai Indians surged to 80 for no loss in the Power-play, Kartik Tyagi, the Impact substitute, was struck for another six.
On the other end, Rickleton matched Rohit’s shot for shot, hitting six sixes and two fours as he sprinted to his fifty off 24 deliveries.
When Rohit reached his fifty, he hit three fours and one six before being the first to be dismissed. In the 12th over, he attempted to slog Arora, but he ended up top-edging it, and Anukul Roy took an excellent catch, running back from mid-on and having to dive all the way to hold it. The 38-year-old struck six boundaries and six maxes in a brilliant knock of 78 off 38 balls. Mumbai got off to a great start when Rohit and Rickleton blasted 148 runs for the first wicket partnership in 72 balls.
Despite only making a small contribution, Suryakumar Yadav, who led India to victory in the T20 World Cup, entered the game as an Impact Substitute for Jasprit Bumrah. In his 16-ball eight, Surya hit three fours.
Before being run out for 81 off 43 balls by Anukul Roy, Rickelton continued to torment KKR with two fours and two more sixes. Muzarabani blocked him as he attempted to reach the non-striker end after Tilak Varma turned down a call for a second. In the 16th over, Mumbai were 184/3 and well on their way to winning.
Tilak Varma was out for 20 as he attempted to secure the win with a significant hit, but captain Hardik Pandya (18 not out) assisted them in crossing the finish line by hitting a four in the last over.
The lack of skipper Rahane, who left the field after experiencing cramps, somewhat slowed down KKR’s efforts in the area.
Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Mumbai Indians, was overjoyed that his side had broken a 13-year losing streak in Indian Premier League season openers. He also praised his predecessor Rohit Sharma for his outstanding performance, which paved the way for their six-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 220/4 in 20 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 67, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 51, Finn Allen 37, Rinku Singh 33 not out; Shardul Thakur 3-39)
Mumbai Indians 224/4 in 19.1 overs (Ryan Rickelton 81, Rohit Sharma 78; Kartik Tyagi 1-43) by six wickets.