Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy: Tilak Varma Scripts History, Becomes 1st Player In T20 Cricket History To…

The 22-year-old Varma is playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2024-25 – India’s domestic T20 competition – after hitting consecutive hundreds in South Africa – 107 not out in Centurion followed by an unbeaten 120 in Johannesburg.

After his blistering knock against Meghalaya, Tilak also registered the highest individual score in the competition’s history. He surpassed the previous best of Mumbai’s Shreyas Iyer, who had played a knock of 147. Tilak also becomes the second Indian cricketer to score 150 or more in a T20 match after Kiran Navgire who achieved the feat in 2022 with an unbeaten 162.

  

Coming out to bat at No.3 in the very first over, Tilak brought up his half-century off just 28 balls and then reached the 100-run mark on his 51st delivery. The left-handed batter finished his knock with a strike rate of 225.37. He smashed 14 fours and 10 sixes before falling on the last ball of the innings.

During his impressive knock, Tilak was particularly more aggressive against medium pacer Dippu Sangma, off whom he scored 50 off 18 balls with six fours and three sixes. He added 122 for the second wicket off just 48 balls and helped Hyderabad post 248 for 4, their highest score in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. It is also the fifth-highest total in the history of the competition.

In reply to Hyderabad’s 248 for 4, Meghalaya were bowled out for 69 as Aniketh Reddy and Tanay Thyagrajan picked up four and three wickets respectively.

Notably, Tilak was one of five players Mumbai Indians retained ahead of the auction for IPL 2025, having played for them in 2023 and 2024.