Register free now ><\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s been a long wait – 13 years is a long time,\u201d skipper Hardik Pandya said on breaking the opening game jinx.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery glad, the whole team is very glad that we were finally able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mumbai Indians’ Rohit Sharma. AP Photo\/Rafiq MaqboolSource: AP<\/p>\n
The 38-year-old Rohit, who plays just the 50-over format for India after retiring from Test and T20 internationals, hit six fours and six sixes in his 38-ball knock. <\/p>\n
His batting blitz came a day after long-time international teammate Virat Kohli steered Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a big win in the tournament opener. <\/p>\n
It needed a special effort to dismiss Rohit and Anukul Roy pulled off a stunning catch while running back from mid-on to finally dislodge the star batter. <\/p>\n
South African wicketkeeper-batter Rickelton kept up the attack as he hit his eighth six after Rohit\u2019s departure, continuing the pummelling of the Kolkata attack. <\/p>\n
He was finally run out after a direct throw from Roy hit the stumps at the non-striker\u2019s end.<\/p>\n
Mumbai\u2019s chase slowed down before Pandya, unbeaten on 18, and Tilak Varma, who made 20, helped the team get over the line.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought 220-225 was a good total. We batted really well, but again, the inexperienced bowling attack,\u201d Kolkata skipper Ajinkya Rahane said. <\/p>\n
\u201cPlaying against Mumbai Indians, strong batting line-up, it\u2019s really a learning curve for us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Pandya won the toss and invited three-time winners Kolkata to bat first amid a loud roar from the home Mumbai crowd. <\/p>\n
Rahane and New Zealand\u2019s Finn Allen handed Kolkata a blazing start and the team finished on 4-220.<\/p>\n
Rahane went on to hit 67 off 40 balls after Allen fell for 37. Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, the most expensive overseas buy in IPL history, contributed 18, while he didn\u2019t bowl.<\/p>\n
Asked during the post-match presentation why Green didn\u2019t bowl, Rahane responded: \u201cThe question you need to ask to Cricket Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, former Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin argued the Knight Riders should consider slashing Green\u2019s AU$4.17 million pay cheque if CA manages his bowling workload during the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWill Cricket Australia allow him to bowl all four overs? That is also a possibility,\u201d Ashwin said on YouTube.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this scenario, the Australian board is saying to Green that he can play in the IPL, but Test cricket is very important for us, so you can play only this much.<\/p>\n
\u201cIPL teams also should have an opportunity where if he bowls only two overs, then they should deduct 2 crores. Why not? If he is not able to deliver his four overs, then you should have the right to cut their money, right? When you came into the IPL auction, the expectation was that you will bowl all four overs, and also bat. If there is no restriction on bowling, then great, but if there is restriction the team should be allowed to cut from the contract money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Green has not scored a T20 fifty since July last year<\/a>, averaging 18.80 in the game\u2019s shortest format this summer. He registered for the IPL Auction as a specialist batter, but that was due to an managerial \u201cstuff-up\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ll be good to bowl,\u201d Green told reporters in December.<\/p>\n
Rinku Singh\u2019s unbeaten 33 off 21 balls gave Kolkata a late lift, but it wasn\u2019t enough to challenge Mumbai.<\/p>\n
Mumbai medium-pace bowler Shardul Thakur returned figures of 3-39 to be named player of the match, while Jasprit Bumrah finished wicketless but played a role in checking Kolkata\u2019s scoring in the middle overs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton hit blistering half-centuries to lead Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":572803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[564],"tags":[64,63,740,85],"class_list":["post-572802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cricket","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cricket","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=572802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/572802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/572803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=572802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=572802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=572802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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