It was the 1,000th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL), and it needed a spectacular effort from Tim David’s blade to carry host team Mumbai Indians to a six-wicket win at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. Australian all-rounder, David blasted a hat-trick of sixes off Jason Holder to chase down a 213-run target with three balls to spare in their final over against Rajasthan Royals in match no. 42 of the IPL 2023.
With that strike, David first blasted a brilliant full-toss off Holder’s first ball over the boundary to set up the fifty partnership with Tilak Varma (29) and also bring up MI’s 200. The next delivery was another full toss, this time landing over mid-wicket for an 84-meter six. The third full toss in a row was smashed over midwicket to seal the victory for MI, and mentor Sachin Tendulkar couldn’t retain his cool in the face of three big hits.
Tilak Varma was 29 off 21 balls, while David stayed unbeaten on 45 off 14 balls with five sixes and two fours. Jason Holder of the West Indies and the Royals finished with stats of 0/55 in 3.3 overs.
“It’s an incredible feeling.” Seeing how the boys went about it boosted our confidence. “It felt like every bowler had to be targeted, but the conditions were batting-friendly,” David commented following the game.
“I’d been wanting to play an inning like this for a long time.” In the final over, I tried to get in front of the ball and close the angle by hitting good shots. It was a good decision to bat at the end. “You felt like you missed out as a batter every time someone missed the yorker,” he added.
Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal got his first IPL century for the Royals at his “home” venue of Wankhede Stadium, blasting 124 off 62 balls with 8 sixes and 16 fours to propel the Royals to 212 for 7 after batting first. In response, MI lost their skipper and birthday boy, Rohit Sharma, for only three minutes.
Suryakumar Yadav hit his second fifty of IPL 2023, blasting 55 off 29 balls with two sixes and eight fours, while Cameron Green chipped in with 44 off 26 balls with two sixes and four fours.
