Tilak Varma, on Wednesday (March 27), scored a brilliant fifty during the game between Mumbai Indians and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.
Chasing an improbable target of 278 runs, Mumbai Indians were off to a good start. Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma fired on all cylinders and brought up the fifty for their team in just the third over. They added 56 runs in just 20 balls before Shahbaz Ahmed dismissed Kishan. The wicketkeeper-batsman departed after scoring 34 runs off just 13 balls.
10 runs later, Rohit Sharma was dismissed as well. The former MI skipper scored 26 runs with the help of three sixes before being dismissed by Pat Cummins. With both the openers departing in quick succession, MI needed someone to take charge of the innings and Tilak Varma rose to the occasion.
The left-handed batsman continued MI’s fast start as he scored a 24-ball fifty. He reached his fifty in the 11th over by hitting Jaydev Unadkat for a four.
And Tilak Varma brought out Suryakumar Yadav’s famous ‘I am here’ celebration to celebrate his fifty. While the celebration is usually associated with football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo and is popularly called ‘calma’, Suryakumar celebrated his match-winning knock against RCB in 2020 with the same celebration.
Watch Tilak Varma’s celebration:
— Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka (@Hanji_CricDekho) March 27, 2024
Tilak Varma eventually departed after scoring 64 runs. His knock came off 34 balls and was studded with two fours and six sixes. At the time of writing this report, MI were on 4187 for 4 in the 16th over with Hardik Pandya and Tim David in the middle.
Earlier in the game, whirlwind knocks from Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, and Heinrich Klaasen powered SRH to a mammoth total of 277 for 3 which is now the highest total in IPL. The record was previously held by RCB for scoring 263/5 against now-defunct Pune Warriors India in 2013. Head scored an 18-ball fifty while Sharma and Klaasen completed their fifties in 16 and 23 balls respectively.
