After two back-to-back losses, Mumbai Indians were finally back playing like 5-time champions in the match against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday. The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 encounter saw Tim David finally coming to the fore, slamming a 14-ball 45 to help Mumbai chase down the target of 213 runs with three balls to spare. After the match, David admitted that he and some other batters in the team have been giving the skipper Rohit Sharma 'sleepless nights' but are glad to have finally won a match for the side.
"This season I have been sitting and watching you and Surya (Suryakumar Yadav) smacking the ball around," David said in a video shared by IPL.
"Feeling amazing. Great to have gotten over the line, with your running down at the other end. Great feeling, can't get better. Some days we have different rhythms. Today you weren't in your rhythm but you played some important shots as well," he said.
Together with Tilak Varma, Tim David extended birthday greetings to Rohit but with a cheeky 'sleepless nights' remark.
"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 got something to celebrate for him," he said.
A special night saw a special innings, a special finish, and a special run-chase as Mumbai Indians chased down the target of 213 runs against Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling 1000th Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Tim David (45* off 14) provided a blockbuster finish with three sixes in a row with 17 needed off the last over to help his team get back to winning ways.
"Yeah, we needed a result. So, it's an amazing feeling, the crowd was going crazy for us. So, when we get up and flying at the Wankhede, there's no better feeling. We've probably not played our best game for the last couple of matches. To see how the boys went about it, it's awesome for us and to see how excited the boys are, it feels really good," David said at the post-match presentation.
David put Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, and Jason Holder away whenever they missed their lengths in the end. Following the game, David stated that the plan was to go after every bowler.
"Everyone had to be targeted. But it was good batting conditions today. So, tough job for the bowlers there, but personally I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now and been hungry to get a result for the team. So, it feels great," David said.
With 17 needed off the last over, RR captain Sanju Samson tossed the ball to Holder but it all finished very quickly. David started off in a brilliant fashion as he cracked a flat six over long off, off the first ball. He sent the ball flying even far off the next ball as he plundered a full toss over deep mid-wicket and way into the stands. The next one flew in the same direction as David thrashed it out of the park to win it for MI with 6, 6, 6 to spark wild celebrations. He remained not out on 45 off 14 balls while Tilak Varma remained unbeaten on 29 off 21.
"It was a little bit sweaty, so I was kind of getting out of the crease and trying to close the angle down [against Holder] and just react to wherever the ball is bowled. At that point, it just had to be good shots and try and hit the middle of the bat," he added.
With ANI inputs