Mumbai Indians ended their four-match losing streak on Monday with an authoritative 99-run win over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. The five-time champions had Tilak Varma to thank for returning to the winning ways as the southpaw played a majestic knock of an unbeaten 101 runs off just 45 balls to propel the team to 199 runs in their 20 overs after an extremely poor start.
With this ton, Tilak also joined an elite list in the Indian Premier League (IPL) that includes the likes of David Miller and Ben Stokes. He became the first player after nine years to score a century in the IPL while batting at number five or lower, with Ben Stokes being the last batter to do so, back in 2017 while playing for Rising Pune Supergiant.
Miller preceded Stokes with similar heroics in 2013 when he was playing for Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) while Yusuf Pathan was the first ever batter to do so back in 2010 when he was with the Rajasthan Royals.
Players to score a century while batting at number five or lower in IPL history
Tilak Varma (Mumbai Indians) - 101* vs Gujarat Titans - 2025
Ben Stokes (Rising Pune Supergiant) - 103* vs Gujarat Lions - 2017
David Miller (Kings XI Punjab) - 101* vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru - 2013
Yusuf Pathan (Rajasthan Royals) - 100 vs Mumbai Indians - 2010
Tilak Varma wins first POTM award in IPL
With his majestic knock, Tilak Varma also won his maiden player of the match award in the 60th match of his IPL career. Only five players have endured a longer wait to win their first POTM award in the cash-rich league while Parthiv Patel is the only batter who took more matches than Tilak to win the match award. Moreover, Tilak's 101-run knock was only the second fifty-plus score in the league that came in the winning cause, as seven of his eight such previous scores had come in defeats.
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