Is this the game? ‘Yes’, says Hardik after MI ends losing streak

Questions over squad balance may linger for both teams – Mumbai’s lack of clarity on their best XI and Gujarat’s over-reliance on a select few – but Monday’s victory was a much-needed reprieve for the five-time champions.

When asked after the game whether it would be the trigger to turn around their season after they entered the fixture in last position, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya replied succinctly: “Yes.”

Stellar Rabada spell

This IPL, traditional skills like pure pace and Test-match length have proven to be an effective antidote to batting sides trying to make the best of the Powerplay, as proven by the likes of Josh Hazlewood and Jofra Archer. Rabada followed the same template on Monday.

The South African took a wicket each in his first three overs, all in the Powerplay. Each of those came from the top-of-off-stump line and length, and each of the wicket-taking deliveries were touching 150kmph. Debutant Danish Malewar was plumb leg-before, Quinton de Kock was caught off guard by a fiery short one, and Suryakumar Yadav lost his stumps to the pick of the bunch.

Kagiso Rabada of Gujarat Titans bowls during Match 30 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2026. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPL)

The India captain had tonked Rabada for a six and a four earlier in the over, but the South African came back with something special: a scorcher that landed seam-up around off-stump and nipped back into the right-hander. It was the kind of delivery that tests a batter’s ability to navigate world-class bowling, from his balance to his footwork. Surya, flat-footed deep in his crease, saw the ball going clean through his half-baked drive and front pad.

Rabada’s figures of 3/33 in four overs likely don’t do justice to how well he bowled, especially his last, the 16th, when he conceded just four runs. What happened around him, however, left his side vulnerable despite his stellar spell.

Tilak’s rescue act

Despite Naman Dhir and Tilak stabilising proceedings after the Powerplay, Mumbai looked lost for answers after being shocked at the start. Tilak has often spoken about his preference to drop anchor, even if modern T20s necessitates aggression from the start. His first 20 balls had a few mishits. But there was intention behind his sluggishness, and the strategy that was looking fatal at one point turned on an instant.

Rabada was duly supported by Mohammed Siraj in the Powerplay, but with the pair splitting the first six, skipper Shubman Gill couldn’t turn to them in the middle overs at all. And while Rashid Khan came up with a tight spell, Tilak was able to exploit the chasm between Gujarat’s world-class bowlers and their untested crop. He could time his late surge thanks to Gill’s predictable rotation of bowlers.

Tilak Verma of Mumbai Indians celebrates the after scoring a hundred during Match 30 of the TATA Indian Premier League 2026. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPLPhoto by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPL)

Tilak went 6-4-4 against Prasidh Krishna, who ditched short balls and began overpitching, in the 15th over and did not look back. He took Rashid for a six and a four in the next, and then gobbled up Ashok Sharma’s high-pace slot balls for a 28-run over in the 18th over that effectively turned this game.

Momentum dragged Tilak’s way, and he rode it to reach his ton, hitting 87 runs off his last 26 balls; an unprecedented late blitz that Mumbai desperately needed to get their campaign back on track.

Gujarat fall apart

If the momentum had shifted after Tilak’s heroics, Jasprit Bumrah snaring his first wicket of this IPL season with his very first ball, getting Sai Sudharsan caught at point, was an ominous sign. Mumbai getting a stroke of luck in the next over, Pandya being on the right side of an umpire’s call against Jos Buttler, was half the battle won.

After Gill mistimed a pull to deep square leg, Gujarat’s hopes of chasing 200 were all but buried. Criticism that their batting is top-heavy will endure after Glenn Phillips, Shahrukh Khan and Rahul Tewatia all failed to stand up in the middle order to make a game of it. Gujarat went from 40 for 3 to 86 for 8 in the space of 50 balls.

Ashwani Kumar’s four wickets and Bumrah breaking his duck would certainly boost confidence, but appraisal of Mumbai’s bowling in a run chase would have to wait as Gujarat outrightly capitulated. The emphasis must be on making the most of this major momentum shift, though, for which the credit rests solely with Tilak.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 199 for 5 in 20 overs (Tilak 101 not out, Naman Dhir 45; Rabada 3/33) beat Gujarat Titans 100 all out in 15.4 overs (Washington 26; Ashwani 4/24, Santner 2/16) by 99 runs