Kumar’s 4/24 – and an overall disciplined bowling performance – restricted champions Kolkata to a modest total of 116, which Mumbai chased down with more than seven overs to spare. “We thought Ashwani can come in on this pitch and bowl the way he bowled. It is all the scouts – they picked him,” said Mumbai skipper Hardik Pandya.
“They have gone to all the places and picked these young kids. We played a practice game, he had that zip, that late swing, something off the wicket, a different action and he was a leftie.” “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 spearheaded Mumbai’s chase, scoring a busy 62 in 41 balls, an innings laced with five 6s. Playing their first home match of the year, Mumbai dominated from the word go with New Zealand pacer Trent Boult claiming opener Sunil Narine’s stumps in the very first over of the match.
Narine’s in-form batting partner Quinton de Kock was next to go, out caught trying to loft India’s Deepak Chahar. Captain Ajinkya Rahane followed soon after, slicing a wide and full ball from Ashwani Kumar to the deep backward point fielder after scoring 11 off seven deliveries.
Aggressive middle-order batter Venkatesh Iyer struggled to get off the blocks, falling for three from nine balls. The left-handed Angkrish Raghuvanshi batted fluently for his 26 runs but failed to carry on, leaving the visitors reeling at 5/45 in seven overs.
Despite some resistance by impact substitute Manish Pandey (19 off 14) and the attacking Rinku Singh (17 off 14), Kolkata never quite recovered after that. A late flurry by Ramandeep Singh (22 off 11) helped Kolkata reach the three-figure mark but it was too little too late, with the innings folding up in the 17th over for 116 runs.
England all-rounder William Jacks pulled his second ball over fine leg for a six, extinguishing any hopes of a Kolkata comeback. Jack (16 off 17) and Rickelton put together a partnership of 45 runs to take Mumbai closer to the target. Twenty20 specialist Suryakumar Yadav’s quickfire 29 off just nine balls ensured Mumbai crossed the line without further hiccups.
