On April 30, 2023, Tim David went on an all out attack to guide Mumbai Indians (MI) to their highest successful run chase in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 history. David smashed Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Jason Holder for three consecutive sixes and handed his team their fourth win of the tournament in the historic 1000th IPL game. As David proved what he is capable of to the MI franchise with an unbeaten 14-bal 45, David and Tilak Varma were happy to gift Rohit Sharma a win on his 36th birthday.
"A very happy birthday to our skipper, Rohit. We have been giving him sleepless nights by not playing very well. So finally tonight, we have given him something to celebrate," David said in a video uploaded by the Indian Premier League website which also featured teammate Tilak Varma.
Batting at no.5, Varma supported David well with an unbeaten 21-ball 29. David and Varma shared an unbeaten 62-run partnership for the fifth wicket in the run chase of 213. Varma has been in fine form this season with 248 runs from eight games at an average of 41.33 including one half-century. The southpaw asked David how it felt to score big in a winning cause.
"I am feeling amazing. It is amazing to get over the line. Nothing better. This season I have been sitting you (Tilak Varma) and Suryakumar Yadav smacking it around, so I am sorry, I am so excited for having an impact and putting in a performance for the team. And it is of course about the confidence of having you at the other end," David said.
Varma scored at a strike rate of 138.10 and revealed that he struggled to find the middle of the bat. He wanted David to take charge and hit boundaries.
"Some days we have different rhythms. So maybe, today you were not at your best rhythm of how we have seen you play and you still played important shots and your ramp gave us so much momentum," the Australian batter added.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK:
IPL 2023 Orange Cap: After whirlwind debut century, RR's Yashasvi Jaiswal skyrockets to the top
IPL 2023: PBKS and MI capitalise on final over thrillers to make strides up the points table
