Debutant Kumar, Rickelton lead MI to first IPL win of the season

Rickelton, who had struck a record double hundred for South Africa recently, spearheaded Mumbai’s chase, scoring a busy 62 in Al balls, an innings laced with five 6s

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A sparkling debut performance by medium pacer Ashwani Kumar helped IPL powerhouses Mumbai Indians register their first win of the season on Monday, downing Kolkata Knight Ridersby eight wickets.

Kumar’s 4-24—and an overall disciplined bowl ing performance-restricted champions Kolkata to a modest total of 116, which Mumbai chased down with more than seven overs to spare.

"There was some pressure in the beginning but the team atmosphere put me at ease," Kumar told broadcasters during the innings break.

South Africa's wicket-keeper-batsman Ryan Rickelton, who had struck a record double hundred for South Africa recently, spearheaded Mumbai's chase, scoring a busy 62 in 41 balls, an innings laced with five 6s.

Rickelton raised 46 runs for the opening wicket with Rohit Sharma (13) and 45 with Will Jacks (16) for the second wicket. Suryakumar Yadav, who sealed victory with a six, remained unbeaten on 27 off nine balls as Mumbai romped to victory with a lot to spare.

Kumar, a 23-year-old left-arm seamer from Jhanjeri, a town near Mohali in Punjab, claimed Ajinkya Rahane's wicket off his first ball and then added the scalps of Rinku Singh, Manish Pandey and Andre Russell as he bagged his first-ever four-wicket haul.