Young left-handed batter Tilak Varma smashed an unbeaten 84 off just 46 balls to steer Mumbai Indians to 171/7 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL 2023 match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.
Pushed into batting first, Mumbai crumbled to 48/4 and then to 123/7 at one stage, looking in danger of being shot out for a below-par total. But Varma stood tall and impressed everyone with his skill and temperament in hitting nine boundaries and four sixes at a strike-rate of 182.6, as Mumbai got 69 runs from the last five overs.
Ishan Kishan gave Mumbai a nice start by slamming Reece Topley twice through cover for a brace of boundaries. But Kishan fell in the third over, as his attempt to flick off Mohammed Siraj took a fat leading edge to short third man.
Cameron Green started well with a drive, but was cleaned bowled by a Reece Topley yorker on the third ball of the fourth over. Siraj could have had Rohit Sharma caught with a sharp bouncer, but he collided with Dinesh Karthik as neither of the two could hold on to the catch in the fifth over.
But Rohit, who also survived a direct hit attempt in the second over, was unable to capitalise on the two breathers and nicked behind off Akash Deep in the final over of power-play. Suryakumar Yadav had a start but ended up cutting straight to backward point off Michael Bracewell in the ninth over.
Despite wickets falling around, Varma continued to match forward. He began with a six over long-on off Deep which came right off the middle of the bat. When Harshal Patel pitched down leg, he came on top of the bounce to pull past short fine leg.
Varma was impressive in facing off-spinners; reverse-sweeping off Bracewell for four. He welcomed Glenn Maxwell by dancing down the pitch to thump a six over long-on, followed by going on backfoot to pull through mid-wicket for four.
Varma was also talking and advising T20 debutant Nehal Wadhera after every ball. That effect rubbed on when Wadhera pulled and smacked Karn Sharma for consecutive sixes, including a 101-m hit over long-on.
But Karn had the last laugh as Wadhera holed out to long-on in the 14th over. Two overs later, Tim David tried to hoick off Karn, but lost his middle stump. With Hrithik Shokeen falling to an athletic catch by Faf du Plessis off Harshal, Varma continued to get runs, pulling off Karn through fine leg for four.
He reached his fifty in 32 balls with a terrific heave over deep square leg for six off Deep. When Harshal gave some width, Varma freed his arms to slash through point for four. He then lofted and pulled Siraj for a brace of boundaries in the 19th over where the fast bowler gave four wides.
Varma pulled Harshal in the gap through square leg for four in the final over, before ending the innings with a helicopter shot to send a fuller delivery over long-on for six, as 22 runs came off the final over.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 171/7 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 84 not out, Nehal Wadhera 21; Karn Sharma 2/32) against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
