Ryan Rickelton struck a sublime 123 not out from 55 balls at the Wankhede on Wednesday evening, yet Mumbai Indians still slipped to defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. MI’s 243 for 4 looked imposing until SRH replied with 247 for 3, continuing a season that has rarely settled for Hardik Pandya’s side.
The South African left-hander now joins an unusual club. Of the nine hundreds recorded in IPL 2026, five – including earlier efforts from Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and B Sai Sudarshan – have come in losing causes. It is a statistic that sums up an unpredictable tournament as well as MI’s inability to stitch wins together.
Uncertain role, certain impact
Rickelton has lived on a selection tightrope all season. Three single-figure scores sat alongside a breezy 81 (43 balls) and a cameo 37 (22) before this century. Will Jacks arriving late from England and Quinton de Kock’s presence meant constant reshuffles, while Rohit Sharma’s hamstring strain and de Kock’s wrist problem forced yet another new opening pair. On Wednesday the combination finally clicked: Rickelton and Jacks rattled up 93 in 43 balls, propelling MI to 78 without loss in the powerplay. Most nights that is enough; SRH’s 92 without loss proved the exception.
“I think it’s not easy, especially for an overseas batter, to come in, do well, again get dropped,” Saba Karim said on ESPNcricinfo’s TimeOut show. “I can understand that, but for Ryan Rickelton to come back and score so briskly – he also realised, I’m sure there’s been a team talk, that we need to get a solid base in the powerplay. And I think both Will Jacks and Ryan Rickelton were able to provide that.”
Tempo, never tension
Rickelton’s innings barely paused for breath. His fifty arrived in 23 balls, the hundred in 44, and he gathered 23 runs from his final 11 deliveries. Hardik Pandya’s 31 from 15 was the only notable support once Jacks holed out, yet MI still surged past 240.
“Ryan Rickelton is quite like Priyansh Arya – both of them are very steady, they don’t step out to pace bowlers in the powerplay; they wait for the ball to come their way,” Karim observed. “And both of them have got a similar kind of a batswing when they try and hit on the on side. So again, all that was pitched in the slot, angling towards him, he was able to easily manoeuvre those shots towards the on side.”
Experimentation that back-fired
Pat Cummins tried to stem the flow with spin in the seventh over. It disappeared for 15. “And I think that over of Harsh Dubey, Pat Cummins thought that maybe spinner can do the work. But Ryan Rickelton, and Will Jacks as well, to nullify that over, just goes to show that I think they had their plans laid out and they were able to execute,” Karim added.
For context, a target above 240 has been chased only once before in the IPL, yet MI’s bowling has struggled all year. Jasprit Bumrah carried a niggle and bowled within himself; Pandya used seven bowlers but none conceded under ten an over. Travis Head’s 79 off 37 and Heinrich Klaasen’s 58* from 24 knocked the life out of the chase with an over to spare.
Bigger picture
MI remain mired in the lower half of the table with four matches to play. Rickelton’s form is a bright spot, and Jacks’ fluent 46 suggests a solution at the top, provided injuries allow continuity. The attack, though, needs control both up front and at the death; without it even extraordinary batting efforts are proving redundant.
Balanced conclusions are tricky when 486 runs are scored in under 40 overs. Rickelton’s hundred deserved better, yet the margins in T20 seldom respect sentiment. For MI, clarity in selection and sharper execution with the ball look more urgent than any individual milestone.
