Tilak ton breathes life into MI's flailing campaign

Tilak Varma lit up Ahmedabad with a breathtaking unbeaten 101 – his maiden IPL hundred – as Mumbai Indians snapped their four-match losing streak with a statement win over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium. In the early part of the evening, MI seemed trapped in this season's worrisome script before Tilak tore it apart with a stunning late surge that lifted them to 199. Then came the early strike they had long waited for: Jasprit Bumrah ended his run of 146 wicketless IPL deliveries with the first ball of MI's bowling innings, and with it seemed to awaken the five-time winners' collective edge. From there, they squeezed, hunted and never allowed GT a real glimpse of the target. Ashwani Kumar claimed a four-fer to condemn their hosts to a 99-run defeat, which is also GT's biggest defeat by runs.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 199/5 in 20 overs [Tilak Varma 101* (45), Naman Dhir 45 (32); Kagiso Rabada 3-33, Mohammed Siraj 1-25] beat Gujarat Titans 100 in 15.5 overs [Ashwani Kumar 4-24, Mitchell Santner 2-16] by 99 runs

Mumbai Indians ran into another black-soil surface in Ahmedabad, and this time Shubman Gill chose to bowl first. Kagiso Rabada delivered a searing Powerplay spell, bowling his fastest ball at 152.1 kph. He trapped IPL debutant Danish Malewar plumb in front, had compatriot Quinton de Kock top-edge a pull, and then beat Suryakumar Yadav with a nip-backer that uprooted two stumps. MI were 46 for 3 at the end of six overs.

That man was Naman Dhir. Batting at one-drop, he ensured the scoring rate did not slip further while rebuilding the innings. He struck two boundaries off Ashok Sharma in the seventh over, then took on Washington Sundar for a six and a four in the 11th. He fell to Prasidh Krishna in the 13th over, but his 45 off 32 was vital in allowing Tilak Varma time to settle at the other end.

An innings of two very distinct halves

When Dhir fell in the 13th over, Tilak was on 16 off 18. He then crept to 19 off 22 when Ashok Sharma's five-run 14th over left MI at 103 for 4. Then the Strategic Time Out arrived. A different Tilak emerged after the break.

He smashed Prasidh for 19 in an over to open the surge. Tilak then drilled Rashid Khan for six and cut away the overcompensated short ball for four.

Ashok's next over was carnage: Tilak slapped a short ball over point for six, scooped the next over fine leg for four, lofted one over mid-off, and slogged another beyond midwicket, going 6,4,4,6,6 to race from 49 to 75 in five balls. He then dismantled Prasidh again in a 22-run final over, bringing up his maiden IPL hundred off just 45 balls. After scoring 19 off his first 22 deliveries, he had blasted 82 off the next 23. Mumbai Indians plundered 77 off the last five overs to finish on 199.

Bumrah breaks the streak and MI break GT

Bumrah's last IPL wicket had come 147 deliveries ago. After going six games without a wicket, he found one with his first ball after being handed the first over. He found some shape away from the left-handed Sai Sudharsan who chipped a tame catch to cover.

That opened the gates. Hardik Pandya trapped Jos Buttler in front and once Shubman Gill hit Ashwani Kumar to the fielder in the deep on the legside, it was curtains for GT. Mitchell Santner removed Washington Sundar and Glenn Phillips in his first over to leave the Titans five down for 55, a position they couldn't recover from. Ashwani then ran through the lower order to complete the rout and give MI their first win in Ahmedabad against GT.

Mumbai Indians head back home where pedigreed rivals and fellow stragglers CSK wait for the clash on April 23. Gujarat Titans head south and will take on holders RCB on Friday.