Hyderabad: Cameron Green’s maiden IPL fifty and Tilak Varma’s impactful cameo fired Mumbai Indians to a challenging 192 for five against Sunrisers Hyderabad here Tuesday.
Besides the fast-rising Varma and Green (64 not out off 40 balls), the other contributions came from skipper Rohit Sharma (28 off 18) and Ishan Kishan (38 off 31) after the home team opted to bowl.
The 20-year-old Varma (37 off 17) has been the stand out batter in the star studded Mumbai line-up and his rare talent and skill was on display again in his crucial cameo.
Mumbai were finding it tough to get going in the middle overs but Varma’s high quality knock gave the innings the much-needed momentum.
The lanky Marco Jansen was punished for 21 runs in the 15th over when Varma dispatched him for successive sixes, one in the cow corner and the other over the bowler’s head.
In the following over, the southpaw used his wrists beautifully for a four over extra cover off leggie Mayank Markande before sweeping him for a maximum for a 14-run over.
Green, who struggled to get his timing right initially, got down to business after Varma’s dismissal. The tall right-hander hammered three straight fours off T Natarajan to bring up his half-century before collecting a straight six in a 20-run over.
Natarajan leaked runs in the 20th over and ended up conceding 50 runs in his four overs. Mumbai managed to smash 62 runs in the last five overs.
PTI