Mumbai Indians Rookie Ashwani Kumar Scripts IPL History, Becomes First Indian Ever To...

Ashwani Kumar's record four wicket-haul on IPL debut and Ryan Rickelton's 62 not out powered Mumbai Indians to a commanding eight-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders here on Monday. The 23-year-old Ashwani from Punjab's Jhanjeri became the first Indian ever to to take four wickets on IPL debut as he ended with figures of 3-0-24-4 to blow away KKR's star-studded batting lineup. With only four senior T20 matches in his kitty apart from four List A games and two Ranji Trophy matches, Ashwani's rich returns heralded the domination shown by MI's seamers.

Deepak Chahar (2/19), Trent Boult (1/23) and Hardik Pandya (1/10) ensured a collective bowling performance as KKR crumbled for the lowest total of this season, rolling over for just 116 in 16.2 overs.

Even as Rohit Sharma (13) endured another forgettable outing, Ryan Rickelton (62 not out off 41 balls, 4x4s, 5x6s) made his first impact on the IPL stage as Mumbai Indians went over the line with 7.1 overs to spare. Suryakumar Yadav hit a quick 9-ball 27 not out and ended the game with a six behind the wicket.

The left-handed South African Rickelton survived initial challenges from KKR pacers to fight back with a flurry of boundaries for his maiden half-century in the competition and helping his side record their first win of the season.

Left-arm seamer Ashwani accounted for Ajinkya Rahane (11), Rinku Singh (17), impact sub Manish Pandey (17) and Andre Russell (5) to break the Knight Riders' back after Chahar and Boult made early inroads in the powerplay.

KKR had a forgettable start when their openers Quinton de Kock (1) and Sunil Narine (0) fell inside the first two overs and by the end of the powerplay, the visitors had limped to 41 for four.

Boult outsmarted Narine with a