MUMBAI: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s maiden IPL hundred against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday night must rate amongst the best centuries in the IPL. That it came in the 1000th IPL match couldn’t have been more apt. However, it took just three balls of magic from Tim David to turn it into a vain effort in a losing cause.
The course of the match seemed to have swung RR’s away when, in the 16th over, Sandeep Sharma, running backwards for about 19 metres from short fine leg, grabbed a stunning catch to send back Suryakumar Yadav (55, 29b, 8×4, 2×6) after he top-edged a hook off Trent Boult.
However, Tim David (45 not out, 14b, 2×4, 5×6) and Tilak Varma (29 not out, 21b, 3×4, 1×6) added 62 in just 23 balls for the fifth wicket to pull off a pulsating six-wicket win for MI.
Celebrating his 36th birthday, India and MI skipper Rohit Sharma was castled by Sandeep Sharma for just three in the second over of the chase. However, fired by World No1 T20I batsman Suryakumar Yadav and all-rounder Cameron Green (44, 26b, 4×4, 2×6), MI were kept in the hunt.
The night belonged to Jaiswal though. His knock is a signal to the national selectors who will find it difficult to ignore him when the Indian team is picked for the West Indies tour in July.
Playing his fourth IPL, the phenomenally talented youngster is finally coming into his own. Fittingly, his first IPL hundred, which took him just 53 balls, came at the Wankhede, where the left-handed opener has played all his cricket since his school days.
The impact of the youngster’s sensational effort can be gauged from the fact that RR’s next-highest contributor in their innings was ‘Mr. Extras’ with 25. No other batsman crossed even 20 and it looked as if Jaiswal was batting on a different wicket than his teammates.
If the visitors put up 212 for 7 after deciding to bat first, it was purely due to Jaiswal’s marauding blade. In a poignant moment at the innings break, Jaiswal was presented the ‘Orange Cap’ for being the highest run-getter in IPL 2023 at this point.
