Cameron Green struck a 47-ball 100 to star in a big win for Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday. The five-time champions were in a must-win situation to keep themselves alive in the playoffs race and they aced the challenge by chasing down 201 in 18 overs against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
While MI were sailing to the big target with relative ease, Green was quite nervous as he was nearing a personal milestone.
Having whittled down the arrears to three from 16 deliveries, Green found himself batting on 98. He tapped one to covers for a quick single to move to 99 and then his batting partner Suryakumar Yadav worked one towards midwicket to hare to the other end for what was a risky single in his effort to give Green a chance to get to his century.
With one run separating Green from the century and MI from the win, the lanky allrounder tried pushing one gently for a single but was beaten on the outside edge, leaving a few anxious faces in the team’s dug-out.
With SRH bringing the fielder close to block chance of a single, Green managed to thread the gap and at mid-on and completed the formality before leaping in joy to celebrate the milestone and the win.
“It’s crazy. It was pretty funny looking at the scoreboard. All the guys were not happy with me trying to block the ball so I kind of had to go for the last ball. Pretty good feeling,” Green told his MI team-mate during a conversation shared by IPL.
“Me and SKY met halfway. We were like – need four runs, you can get two singles if you want. That was probably more coming from me than SKY who said just go for it. Yeah, pretty silly looking back at it,” he added.
Green said the innings is right up there in his T20 career.
“Right up there in my T20 career. It’s incredible to bat at Wankhede. The wicket is always beautiful here. All you have to do is hit through the line. I’ve been watching you do it. So, it’s nice to do it myself,” the 23-year-old said.
Tilak said he’s living his dream of playing for MI and praised the fans for their unwavering support throughout.
“It was my dream to play for Mumbai Indians and the fans here are really crazy. They keep supporting us and it gives us the boost to win matches,” he said.
Green said he feels the franchise has support everywhere in India.
“You just don’t have to be at the Wankhede to feel the love for Mumbai Indians. Everywhere, we go, our fanbase is obviously big. Wherever we go feels like a home game,” he said.
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