Suryakumar Yadav scores maiden IPL century

Mumbai Indians (MI) batsman Suryakumar Yadav on Friday scored his maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) century.

Yadav scored an unbeaten 103 against Gujarat Titans (GT) and became just the fourth batter to score a hundred in the ongoing edition of the IPL, after Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rajasthan Royals), Venkatesh Iyer (Kolkata Knight Riders) , and Harry Brook (Sunrisers Hyderabad).

After being asked to bat, MI put up 218 for 5 in 20 overs, thanks to Yadav’s 49-ball 103 as he struck six sixes and 11 fours. Ranked No. 1 in the T20Is, Yadav went past his previous best of 83, which came against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Mumbai’s previous game this season.

With his knock of 103 not out, the 32-year-old MI batsman took his runs tally to 479 runs in 12 games in the underway campaign. He is the third leading scorer in the IPL 2023, behind RCB batsman Faf du Plessis (576 runs) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Jaiswal (575 runs).

Since his IPL debut in 2012, Yadav has accumulated 3,000-plus runs in 135 matches, including a hundred and 20 fifties.

After 18 overs, Yadav was on 73 off 40 deliveries. In the next two overs, the Indian batter struck four boundaries, including two sixes on the final two deliveries of MI’s innings to reach the three-digit score.

Yadav’s 103 not out was also the highest individual score against defending champions GT in the IPL. He beat the previous record of 92 that was held by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. MI’s total of 218 was also the highest recorded total against Hardik and Co in the tournament.

Meanwhile, on Friday, GT captain Hardik Pandya had a homecoming at Wankhede Stadium as he previously spent seven seasons with MI, winning four IPL titles with them, including two back-to-back trophies in 2019 and 2020.

After winning the toss on Friday, Hardik said, “Looks like a good wicket, dew could have an effect, so chasing could be ideal. We realise the importance of every game, just need to stick to our plans and play good cricket. It's important to learn the lessons from your losses, rectify and don't repeat it. You do make mistakes in such a long tournament. God has been kind with our injuries.”

MI captain Rohit said, “Things are coming along nicely in the last few games. We understand where we stand at the moment, just focus on the game in hand. It's not been ideal in terms of injury management, but we'll have to deal with it and that's what the guys have done. We've spoken about not letting external factors affect us. We're playing with the same squad as the last game.”

With 16 points from 11 games, GT are at the top of the IPL 2023 table. If Rohit-led MI manage to beat GT on Friday, they’ll climb to third place in the table, pushing RR a spot down.