Tilak brings the calm to MI's chaotic chase - ESPN

Bowling teams might want to petition against the second timeout in the IPL. For the second time in this tournament, Tilak Varma turned a game on its head immediately after that little break.

Earlier in the tournament, he went from 19 off 22 to 101 off 45, helping Mumbai Indians score 99 in the last six overs to beat Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad for the first time. In the dizzying heights of Dharamsala, MI needed 80 in the last six overs on a tricky pitch, but Tilak resumed with a boundary first ball after the break, proceeded to ruin Yuzvendra Chahal's figures with a 20-run over, and left PBKS' campaign in the dark.

This was only the fifth time in the IPL that a side went into the last three overs needing 50 or more and came out victorious. Behind it was a calm mind that showed in Tilak's conversations during the timeout and with Will Jacks, his partner when the winning runs were scored.

Both the pitches in Dharamsala so far have had something for the bowlers. The first one seamed around prodigiously, this one, drier, offered variance in bounce and pace from hard lengths. It showed in how Shardul Thakur, in particular, targeted the top of the stumps with cross-seam deliveries. In Shreyas Iyer's case, he found just enough away movement, likely from a crack. In Marco Jansen's case, the ball stayed low, which was also the case with Corbin Bosch's lbw of Shashank Singh.

If it was cross-seam deliveries in the first innings, it was the slower ones that drew mischief in the second. Tilak was wise to it, but also to the fact that the ball was just flying off the bat in the rarified air of the hills. The biggest six of the tournament, Tilak's straight slog off Chahal, came on the night.

"When we had the second break, the second strategic timeout, I was talking to the coach that just one big over, and we'll finish the game," Tilak told the broadcaster. "'Just keep believing in me, I'll be doing it for the team.' That's what I said, and I was just waiting for that one big over. Unfortunately it came against Yuzi bhai, but I'm glad that I've finished the game."

Tilak went about the task in an interesting fashion, especially after Jansen bowled slower balls almost exclusively in the 14th over, conceding just five runs. For the death overs, he totally inverted his batting set-up and suggested the same to Jacks. He was now setting himself up for the slower balls, confident that if they did bowl regulation pace and hurried them on the big shot, the rarified air would do the job for them.

"I just said, 'Just hold the shape and wait for the slow ones.' Tilak said of his conversation with Jacks. "Because the ball is flying here. If they ball quick ones and [even] if you just blindly swing, if it just hits the bat, it's just going. So wait for that slower one. That was the only ball we were actually slightly struggling to hit for sixes."

That is exactly what happened. Jansen started the 18th over with a slower one, and Tilak was waiting this time. He had taken Jansen's most effective weapon on the night, and swept it for a 96-metre six. The quick one flew, but Tilak didn't swing blindly; in fact he off-drove it over mid-off with grace. By the time he pulled Jansen's last slower ball for a straight six, MI had almost killed the chase. All told, Tilak took 31 runs off 12 slower balls.

Almost dazzled by Varma's bright lights, PBKS were left shooting in the dark. The slower ball into the pitch dismantled, they went to the yorkers and the inherently low margin for error cropped up. As MI again look to rebuild after a disappointing year, they now have a reminder for the batter they need to build around.