Tilak Varma overcame a lean patch to register his maiden IPL hundred first up. Gaining momentum from what was a much-deserved century, the bowlers then put up a commanding display as Mumbai Indians pummeled Gujarat Titans by 99 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.

Without Rohit Sharma, this certainly was a huge win for Mumbai, who are now seventh in the standings.

Going into the game with only 43 runs in his last five innings, Tilak was watchful initially. But once he launched an acceleration of the highest order, Mumbai were
able to post a challenging total of 199/5, which looked far from possible when they were wobbling at 96/4 in the 13th over.

Tilak, with his unbeaten 101 off 45 balls, comprising eight boundaries and seven sixes, joined Sanath Jayasuriya for the fastest IPL hundred in Mumbai colours. Jayasuriya had achieved the feat against Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede in the IPL’s inaugural edition in 2008.

Thereafter, Jasprit Bumrah began the proceedings and struck off the first ball of the Titans’ run chase.

There was a little bit of away movement, but Sai Sudharsan’s shot was just as half-hearted and poor, giving catching practice to the fielder at point.

In the next over, skipper Hardik Pandya landed another blow, trapping Jos Buttler LBW with a delivery that shaped in and kept a bit low as well.

The Titans were reeling at 5/2 in the second over, before captain Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar put up some resistance with their share of boundaries. But left-arm quick Ashwani Kumar (Impact Player, replacing Sherfane Rutherford) induced a mistake from Gill.

A little later, Mitchell Santner used his guile on what was a bit of a tricky pitch to first account for Washington, before taking a smart catch off his own bowling to dismiss countrymate Glenn Phillips.

Down to 55/5 in the eighth over, the task was beyond arduous for the likes of Rahul Tewatia, M. Shahrukh Khan and Rashid Khan. That helped Ashwani have a field day in his first appearance this season as he dismissed all three to finish with 4/24.

The Titans eventually folded for 100 in 15.5 overs.

Emphatic execution

Tilak, who took 18 balls to get his first 16 runs, chanced his arms in the 14th over and took on Prasidh Krishna, hammering the pacer for a six and a couple of boundaries that were crucial in giving his innings a much-needed thrust. Hardik also had some words of motivation for Tilak, and that worked wonders as the left-hander’s execution got even better.

Hardik’s decision to let Tilak have most of the strike paid off for Mumbai as the latter didn’t spare anything in his arc. Be it hitting through the line or playing the ramp shot, Tilak was simply spot-on with almost everything he attempted.

The boundary he hit off the last ball of Mumbai’s innings to bring up his century was another instance of his determination to return to form.

Incisive bowling

Kagiso Rabada (3/33) gave the Titans a perfect start after they opted to bowl first. The Proteas pace spearhead nipped the ball back in to remove debutant Danish Malewar, before removing his South Africa teammate Quinton de Kock soon after.

With superb use of the seam, Rabada darted the ball back in to clean up Suryakumar Yadav to give his team the upper hand. But Tilak’s onslaught changed the course of the game.