Tilak Varma's ton

Tilak Varma dragged Mumbai Indians out of a slide on April 20, smashing an unbeaten 101 off 45 balls as they beat Gujarat Titans by 99 runs in Ahmedabad. (espncricinfo.com) Mumbai Indians were 44 for 3 inside six overs at Narendra Modi Stadium after Kagiso Rabada removed Danish Malewar, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav. Tilak rebuilt with Naman Dhir, who made 45 off 32, before finishing the innings at 199 for 5. (espncricinfo.com) Tilak reached his century on the final ball and finished with eight fours and seven sixes at a strike rate above 224. NDTV reported it was the joint-fastest hundred by a Mumbai Indians batter in Indian Premier League history. (sports.ndtv.com) Gujarat Titans never got close to the chase. Mumbai Indians bowled them out for 100 in 15.5 overs, with Ashwani Kumar taking four wickets and Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Mitchell Santner breaking up the rest of the lineup. (espncricinfo.com) The result ended Mumbai’s four-match losing streak and lifted them to seventh in the table, according to match reports published after the game. For a team that came into the night under pressure, the margin mattered almost as much as the points. (outlookindia.com, news9live.com) The build-up had centered on Rohit Sharma’s fitness after he missed Mumbai’s previous game with a hamstring issue. Before the match, bowling coach Paras Mhambrey said Rohit had batted in the nets and was “fit,” though the final call would depend on how he pulled up. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) Rohit did not appear in Mumbai’s XI against Gujarat, leaving Tilak to anchor an innings that had started badly and then accelerated hard at the death. By the end, Mumbai’s No. 4 had outscored the entire Gujarat side by one run. (espncricinfo.com) For Tilak, it was a first Indian Premier League hundred. For Mumbai, it was the kind of one-man rescue act that can reset a season in a single night. (tribuneindia.com, indiatoday.in)