IPL 2026: Ajinkya Rahane smashes half-century in KKR's opener
What's the story
Ajinkya Rahane led Kolkata Knight Riders from the front in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 opener at Wankhede Stadium. Opening the innings, he hammered a whirlwind half-century against Mumbai Indians after KKR were invited to bat. The KKR skipper added a 69-run stand with his opening partner, Finn Allen. He struck at a staggering 167.50. Here are the key stats.
Knock
Rahane anchors with attacking intent
Both Rahane and Allen displayed some cracking shots at the outset. In the fourth over, bowled by Hardik Pandya, the KKR openers hammered successive sixes and fours. While Allen departed, Rahane took KKR past 100 alongside Cameron Green within eight overs. The former completed his half-century off 27 balls in the 10th over. Rahane finally fell to Shardul Thakur for a 40-ball 67 (3 fours and 5 sixes)
Numbers
A look at his numbers
Rahane, one of the few active players from the inaugural edition, slammed his 34th half-century in the IPL. He also has two tons. According to ESPNcricinfo, this was his fourth half-century for KKR. Three of those came last year. Rahane now has 5,099 runs from 199 IPL games at an average of 30.71. His strike rate reads 125.43.
Information
Rahane attains these feats
According to Cricbuzz, Rahane's 5 sixes are the joint-most hit by him in a T20 innings. He also recorded the highest individual score by a KKR captain against MI in the IPL.