'Throwing wickets away!' Fans shocked as KKR faces batting collapse?against?MI
MI pacers sent back KKR's Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock, skipper Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer and Angkrish Raghuvanshi in quick succession. KKR's score at the end of 7 overs was just 45 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.
After two below-par performances in their first two games of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Mumbai Indians (MI) seemed to have found their footing at their home ground, Wankhede Stadium. Taking on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), MI, who won the toss and opted to field, dismantled KKR's top order within the Powerplay.
Pacers Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, and Hardik Pandya struck early creating a huge KKR batting collapse with MI debutant Ashwani Kumar being the star picking 4 wickets. In fact, KKR's score at the end of 7 overs was just 45 runs for the loss of 5 wickets. Now, it has gone to 8 wickets within 13 overs.
The feeling of your first #TATAIPL wicket ?
！ IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 31, 2025
Ashwani Kumar with a dream start as he picks up Ajinkya Rahane ?
#MI could not have asked for a better start ?#KKR 41/4 after 6 overs.
Updates ? https://t.co/iEwchzEpDk#MIvKKR pic.twitter.com/sPOTN5qpW2
Wickets keep falling
Boult struck early, dismissing Sunil Narine (0 off 2) with a brilliant inswinger in the first over, followed by Quinton de Kock's departure (1 off 3) in the next over, courtesy of Chahar. KKR attempted to counterattack and shift the pressure onto MI with skipper Ajinkya Rahane (11 off 7) and Angkrish Raghuvanshi (26 off 16) at the crease, but the strategy backfired.
They lost four wickets inside the powerplay, followed by Angkrish, who had been looking in good form. In this crisis, impact substitute Manish Pandey stepped in, as KKR desperately needed someone to anchor the innings and rebuild their chase.
However, MI continued their dominance, quickly dismissing Venkatesh Iyer (3 off 9), Rinku Singh (17 off 14), Manish Pandey (19 off 14) and Andre Russell (5 off 11) in succession.
Currently, after 14 overs, Ramandeep Singh and Harshit Rana are at the crease with the score reading 94 for 8.
Fans react
Seeing KKR's batting collapse, netizens, especially on X (formerly Twitter), quickly reacted, discussing the performance of the defending champions.
One wrote, "KKR throwing wickets away .. Need a partnership!"
KKR throwing wickets away .. Need a partnership!
！ RAHUL (@iRahul40) March 31, 2025
Another wrote,"Whata batting collapse of KKR"
Whata batting collapse of kkr #KKRvsMI #MIvsKKR
！ Positive X (@Thepositivex) March 31, 2025
One said, "we are back to basics. Batting collapse as usual"
we are back to basics. Batting collapse as usual#MIvsKKR
！ KKR LAD? (@vigz__manutd) March 31, 2025
Another said, "The most brainless batting ever from this KKR team".
The most brainless batting ever from this KKR team?#KKRvMI
！ Sourav (@Sourav_2599) March 31, 2025
Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy
Impact Subs: Anrich Nortje, Anukul Roy, Manish Pandey, Vaibhav Arora, Luvnith Sisodia
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Ryan Rickelton, Will Jacks(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Ashwani Kumar, Vignesh Puthur
Impact Subs: Rohit Sharma, Corbin Bosch, Raj Bawa, Robin Minz, Satyanarayana Raju
Karen Noronha is a versatile journalist with a passion for sports and K-pop. With over 7 years of experience at publications like IBTimes UK, DNA, and OTTPlay/DesiMartini, she seamlessly transitions between covering global athletic events and the dynamic world of K-pop.
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