IPL debutant Ashwani Kumar's 4/24 helps MI restrict KKR to 116
Mumbai (PTI): Left-arm seamer Ashwani Kumar dazzled on IPL debut with 4/24 as Mumbai Indians’ seamers shot out defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders for a mere 116 in 16.2 overs for the lowest score of this season here on Monday.
The 23-year-old Ashwani accounted for Ajinkya Rahane (11), Rinku Singh (17), impact sub Manish Pandey (17) and Andre Russell (5) to break the Knight Riders’ back after Deepak Chahar (2/19) and Trent Boult (1/23) made early inroads in the powerplay.
With that stellar effort, Ashwani became the first Indian to take four wickets in his maiden IPL outing.
KKR had a forgettable start when their openers Quinton de Kock (1) and Sunil Narine (0) fell inside the first two overs and by the end of the powerplay, the visitors had limped to 41 for four.
On a fresh Wankhede Stadium pitch which offered bounce and swing with the new ball, MI bowlers capitalised on lack of application shown by KKR batters.
Boult outsmarted Narine with a fuller one which swung away to clean him up in the first over.
In the next over, Chahar had de Kock caught at mid-off with Ashwani timing his jump perfectly to complete a sharp grab.
Rahane hit a six and a four to counterattack but perished soon after for Ashwani's maiden wicket on his first ball.
The Punjab seamer lured Rahane outside the off and KKR skipper obliged, albeit hitting in the air with the ball flying to deep backward point.
Angkrish Raghuvanshi (26) looked the most promising when he began with a couple of attractive fours on both sides of the wicket and also hit Ashwani into the stands for one of the few sixes which KKR hit.
But Raghuvanshi was also guilty of throwing it away when he hit one short ball meekly off Hardik Pandya (1/10) and Naman Dhir did a fine job running from deep square leg to take the catch.
Pandey, pressed into service as an impact sub with KKR reeling at 45 for five, could not make the opportunity count and was cleaned up by Ashwani in the 11th over.
Dhir was in action again when Rinku danced down the track to smash a short ball from Ashwani two balls later but was caught at deep point.
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AI, AI Express look to add capacity amid IndiGo flight disruptions
New Delhi (PTI): Air India Group is looking to add capacity to help passengers impacted by the IndiGo flight disruptions.
"Since 4 December, economy class airfares on non-stop domestic flights have been proactively capped to prevent the usual demand-and-supply mechanism being applied by revenue management systems," a statement said on Saturday.
Both Air India and Air India Express have put in place caps on economy class fares.
ALSO READ: IndiGo cancels over 200 flights from Delhi, Mumbai on Saturday
The statement from Air India came hours after the government announced introduction of airfare caps amid IndiGo flight disruptions.
Air India also said it is not technically possible to cap fares for all flight permutations.
"Air India and Air India Express are seeking to add capacity to help travellers and their baggage reach their destinations as quickly as possible," the statement said.
