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Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], March 28 (ANI): Following his side’s loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their Indian Premier League (IPL), Mumbai Indians (MI) match Tim David lauded Tilak Varma for his counter-attacking knock that helped the five-time champions keep up with the Orange Army’s run-rate in a record-breaking run-chase of 278 runs.

Though SRH posted the highest-ever IPL total of 277/3 and won the game by 31 runs, the fight shown by MI in the clash at Hyderabad is something that will live in the minds of fans. Halfway through MI’s innings and till 15 overs of the chase, the Blue and Gold side was alive and kicking due to the left-hander’s 64 in 34 balls, with two fours and three sixes. It was his 84-run partnership with Naman Dhir (30 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) that helped MI reach 150 runs in less than 11 overs and even gave them a shot at chasing down the mammoth total in first place.

Speaking at the post-match press conference to the media, David said, “Tilak (Varma) played beautifully. Hitting the ball cleanly is close to the best of what Tilak has got. I say that because I still think he has got more than that as well, and we saw a pretty special inning tonight. Yeah, it is always great to see your teammates playing well down the line; I have a lot of faith that it will result in wins for us.”Since his IPL debut in 2022, Tilak has been incredible for MI, scoring 829 runs in 27 matches at an average of 39.48 and a strike rate of over 146, with four half-centuries. His best score is 84. He is one of the future batting stars for MI who could form the core of the team along with Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Tim David, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah for years to come.

During the run-chase, MI showed immense resilience and commitment to the task ahead, despite how massive it was. Even after being hammered for a record-breaking total all over the park, David said that the talk within the dressing room was about belief in the batting unit and sticking to the basics.

“The talk in our dressing room is that we believe in our batting unit. We chased down some high scores last year, which was sticking to our approach as you cannot look at the total itself. It is a process to get to that stage, and I think we were keeping up with the rate at a certain point. So, although we did not get the runs, it was a great batting performance from us, too,” the Australian batter said.

David said that the pitch, which saw precisely 523 runs being smashed and records being broken left and right was lacked seam movement and help for spinners.

“It was a pretty true surface, was not it? There was not a lot of seam movement, and there was not a lot of spin. We saw at the end when SRH took the pace off bowling to the pitch, and it seemed to be the hardest thing to hit,” said David.

Coming to the match, Sunrisers Hyderabad was put to bat first by Mumbai Indians. MI got Mayank Agarwal (11) early. But fiery knocks came from Travis Head (62 in 24 balls, with nine fours and three sixes), Abhishek Sharma (63 in 23 balls with three fours and seven sixes) that powered SRH to 148/2 in their 10 overs. Abhishek-Head put on a 68-run partnership for the second wicket.

Following a brief 48-run stand between Abhishek and Aiden Markram (42 in 28 balls, with two fours and a six), Heinrich Klaasen (80 in 34 balls, with four boundaries and seven sixes) formed a 116-run stand in 54 balls to take SRH to 277/3 in their 20 overs, the highest-ever IPL total.

Gerald Coetzee (1/57), skipper Hardik Pandya (1/46) and Piyush Chawla (1/34) took wickets for MI. South African U19 star Kwena Maphanka was hit for 66 runs on his debut IPL game in his four overs.

Chasing 278, openers Rohit Sharma (26 in 12 balls, with a four and three sixes) and Ishan Kishan (34 in 13 balls, with two fours and three sixes) gave MI a fine start, racing to 56 in 3.2 overs.

After both openers were dismissed, Naman Dhir (30 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and Tilak Varma (64 in 34 balls, with two fours and six sixes) formed a 84-run stand, taking MI to 150 in 10.4 when Dhir was dismissed in an unbelievable counterattack.

Tilak kept fighting for MI along with skipper Hardik Pandya (24 in 20 balls, with a four and six), taking MI to 182/4 in 14.1 overs at the time of Tilak’s dismissal.

In the death overs, Tim David (42 in 22 balls, with two fours and three sixes) battled it out for MI along with Pandya and Romario Shepherd (15 in six balls, with two fours and a six). But MI had been controlled well by SRH bowlers and restricted to a commendable 246/5 in 20 overs, losing by 31 runs.

Skipper Pat Cummins (2/35) and Jaydev Unadkat (2/47) were the top bowlers for SRH. Shahbaz Ahmed also got a wicket.

Abhishek took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his fifty. (ANI)