Watch: Tilak Varma celebrates 45-ball century during GT vs MI clash of IPL 2026

After 16 overs of the first innings, the Mumbai Indians were lagging at 126/4. Many reckoned that it would be another slow finish from the five-time champions during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, with the home side showing their quality with the ball.

But Tilak Varma, who lost his number three position earlier in the event with a string of low scores, made a strong comeback with an unbeaten century and rocketed themselves to a winning score. Meanwhile, the visitors notched up 73 runs in the last four overs, out of which 64 came off Tilak’s bat in 17 balls. 

Tilak Varma smashes 45-ball century in IPL 2026 vs GT

At the start of his innings, the left-handed batter struggled to free his arms and was on 19 off 22 balls. But he nailed Prasidh Krishna for one six and two successive boundaries in the 15th over to get the momentum back in their favor. However, it was important for them to launch well towards the end and shoulder the cross to near 200.

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And Tilak took the responsibility as he put Rashid Khan’s first delivery of the 17th over into the stands before crashing a boundary to back it up. He slapped Ashok Sharma for a six as the ball sailed over the fence. The Hyderabad-born celebrated his half-century off 33 balls.

With two more sixes and a four, the Mumbai Indians clubbed 26 runs off the over. Varma timed Mohammad Siraj well into the leg side for a boundary towards the long-on. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he raced away to 80 runs off 40 balls.

Tilak records joint-fastest century for MI in IPL history

On the first of the last over, Tilak sliced the full-length delivery from Krishna into the point region towards the third man for a boundary before dispatching the very second delivery into the deep mid-wicket region for a massive six as the ball sailed over the rope.

See Also: Watch: Kagiso Rabada’s 152 kmph thunderbolt destroys Suryakumar Yadav in viral IPL 2026 moment

On the fifth ball of the over, the batter clubbed the GT pacer for another six behind the wicket to keep his hopes alive of getting to a century. And on the final delivery, he timed the ball into the leg side for a four to reach his 45-ball hundred, which is now the joint-fastest in the IPL for MI with Sanath Jayasuriya.

In his last 23 balls, Varma nailed 81 runs at a strike rate of 356.52 as MI finished with 199/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Brief Scores: (at the time of writing): GT 35/2 (S Gill 14*, J Bumrah 1/11) vs MI 199/5 (Tilak Varma 101*, Kagiso Rabada 3/33) 

Fans celebrate Tilak’s incredible century off 45 balls vs GT

Here is how the fans reacted to the southpaw’s 45-ball hundred against the Titans in the IPL 2026-