While speaking in the post-match presentation, player of the match Tilak Varma was asked to reflect on the 16th over – if it was planned or not. In response, the 23-year-old stated that he knew he was just a big over away from turning the game around and he laughingly said that it “unfortunately” materialized against Yuzvendra Chahal
Published: May 15, 2026 12:42 PM IST
Tilak Varma proved to be the hero once again as the Mumbai Indians handed the Punjab Kings their 5th consecutive defeat in match number 58 of the 2026 Indian Premier League season. Tilak played out a player of the match winning knock of 75, helping the 5-time champions beat last season’s runners-up by 6 wickets.
While the victory did not have any implication on MI, who are already eliminated from the tournament, the result did impact Punjab’s aspirations for a top 4 finish. The Shreyas Iyer-led side now find themselves in a very tricky situation where winning even both of their remaining 2 matches might not secure a play-offs spot.
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The North Indians will have to rely on the results of other matches as well and hope for the bottom sided teams to win a few games against the favorites for the last 4 stages. While their fielding has been a major concern for them in the 2nd half of the season, their batting firepower also appears to have lost its sting, especially the middle-order batters.
Last night against Mumbai, after a good start from Priyansh Arya (22 off 17), Prabhsimran Singh (57 off 32) and Cooper Connolly (21 off 22), the middle-order consisting of Shreyas Iyer (4 off 2), Suryansh Shegde (8 off 5) and Shashank Singh (2 off 3) shared just 14 runs between them.
If it wasn’t for Azmatullah Omarzai (38 off 17), Vishnu Vinod (15 off 8) and Xavier Bartlett (18 off 7), then Punjab could not have even posted 200 runs on the board. While 200 has become a mediocre score in the IPL nowadays, the Kings did give themselves a chance with their tight bowling, taking the game to the 20th over.
After getting the wickets of Rohit Sharma (25 off 26), Ryan Rickelton (48 off 23) and Naman Dhir (9 off 6), Punjab could not remove Tilak Varma, who looked absolutely untouchable throughout the night. The left-hand batter showcased immense composure but was equally aggressive, hitting the PBKS bowlers at a strike rate of 227.
When Mumbai required 72 runs off the last 5 overs, it was Tilak who played the role of an aggressor. The 23-year-old needed a big over and that came in Yuzvendra Chahal’s 16th over which went for a total of 20 runs, hitting two massive sixes and a four to pull the momentum completely towards MI.
In the remaining three overs, Will Jacks’ quickfire 25 off 10 further helped the 5-time champions who clinched victory in the 20th over with only one ball to spare.
While speaking in the post-match presentation, player of the match Tilak Varma was asked to reflect on the 16th over – if it was planned or not. In response, the 23-year-old stated that he knew he was just a big over away from turning the game around and he laughingly said that it “unfortunately” materialized against Yuzvendra Chahal.
“To be honest, when we had the second strategy timeout, I was talking to the coach that just one big over and we will finish off the game. Just keep believing in me, I’ll do it for the team. So that’s what I said and I was just waiting for that one big over. Unfortunately, it came off Yuzi bhai’s over. But yeah, I’m glad that I finished the game.” – Tilak Varma said in the post-match presentation.
This was Tilak’s 2nd half-century of the season and he is now just 7 runs away from equaling his run tally from last season (343 in 16 matches). The Hyderabad-born batter has scored 336 runs from 12 outings this year, including a century against the Gujarat Titans.
Up next, MI will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (Wednesday, May 20) and Rajasthan Royals (Sunday, May 24).
