New Delhi: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) slipped to a six-wicket defeat against Mumbai Indians (MI) in their opening game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 29. KKR failed to defend a strong total of 220 runs as the MI batters dominated the proceedings in the run chase to wrap up a win for the hosts with five balls to spare.

Mumbai Indians recorded their highest successful chase in IPL history and also set the record for the highest successful chase at the venue. Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton slammed half-centuries apiece to make light work of the huge target. Rohit smashed 78 off 38 balls while Rickelton scored 81 off 43, taking the KKR bowlers to the cleaners.

While the MI openers looked in fabulous touch en route to their 148-run opening stand, which came off just 72 balls and made the chase a one-sided affair, KKR’s bowling struggles were also down to Ajinkya Rahane’s captaincy decisions on the field. Rahane failed to use his best bowlers properly, which saw Rohit and Rickelton run away with the game, leading to KKR’s defeat.

Rahane had the option to bring in Sunil Narine early in the attack after Rohit and Rickelton tried to settle in the chase. However, he failed to do so, allowing the MI openers to take the game away from KKR. Narine, arguably KKR’s best bowler, was introduced into the attack after the Powerplay and MI had gained an advantage in the chase by then, with 80 runs in the first six overs.

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was on commentary duties during the game, pointed out Rahane’s captaincy mistake and said it was poor decision-making from the KKR skipper. Harhajan said having Narine bowl early in the game would have given Rahane a strong chance of dismissing Rohit early in the chase.

“The best match-up was to bowl Sunil Narine in the powerplay, at least one or two overs to target Rohit Sharma early. That was their best chance to pick wickets and put Mumbai under pressure. Instead, Narine didn’t even complete his full quota, which shows the captaincy wasn’t up to the mark,” Harbhajan told JioStar.

“Credit to Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton. They batted with ease and never let the bowlers settle, but KKR could have handled that phase much better,” he added.

Mumbai Indians end losing streak in IPL openers

Mumbai Indians brought an end to their 13-match losing streak in IPL openers with their six-wicket win against Kolkata Knight Riders in their first game of the IPL 2026 season at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. Mumbai Indians last won their opening match in the IPL in 2012 and had suffered 13 defeats in a row in their IPL openers since 2013. However, their losing streak ended on Sunday.