KKR skipper admits lack of partnerships and early wickets cost them the game; hails bowlers for fighting despite low total
New Delhi, April 1: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) captain Ajinkya Rahane opened up after his team’s crushing eight-wicket defeat to Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 12 of IPL 2025, calling it a “collective batting failure” and admitting that his side fell well short of a competitive score on a good batting wicket at Wankhede Stadium.
“It was a good wicket to bat on. We felt 180-190 was par here, but we lost too many wickets in the powerplay and couldn’t recover,” Rahane said during the post-match presentation. “You need one batter to anchor the innings, and that didn’t happen for us today. Our bowlers gave it everything, but defending 116 was always going to be tough.”
KKR’s innings never took off after losing four wickets inside the first six overs. With no partnerships of substance, they folded for just 116 in 16.5 overs — their lowest total of the season so far. Debutant Ashwani Kumar starred for Mumbai, claiming a dream four-wicket haul — the best figures by an Indian bowler on IPL debut.
Despite Andre Russell’s brief resistance with the ball, where he dismissed both Rohit Sharma and Will Jacks, the rest of the bowling unit failed to apply pressure. MI chased down the target in just 12.5 overs, thanks to a blazing unbeaten 62 by Ryan Rickelton, who smashed four boundaries and five sixes.
This commanding win marks MI’s first of the season, while KKR will have to regroup quickly and address their top-order concerns ahead of their next outing.