Rohit Sharma made 65 and Tilak scored 41 with the duo adding 68 runs for the second wicket.
DC had batted first after losing the toss and posted 172 thanks to half-centuries from captain David Warner (51) and vice-captain Akshar Patel (54), along with a contribution from Manish Pandey, who made 26 runs.
For MI, Jason Behrendorff and Piyush Chawla picked three wickets each.
In reply, despite a 73-run opener partnership between Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan (31), MI found themselves in a spot of bother due to pressure from DC bowlers. Then young Tilak Varma joined Rohit in the middle and the duo put on 68 runs for the second wicket.
Varma made 41 runs in 29 balls with 4 sixes and 1 four, while Rohit made 65 runs. However, the match went right down to the wire where Cameron Green (17*) and Tim David (13*) took MI past the finishing line on the last ball.
After MI posted their first win in IPL 2023 in their fourth match, Rohit Sharma and Tilak Varma were seen discussing their winning strategy with the bat against DC in a video posted by IPL on their social media.
“I was waiting since last year to bat alongside you, it was my childhood dream and now I’ve finally gotten the chance. I really enjoy batting with you,” said Tilak during the interaction.
“We have been watching you play for a long time now. You batted well in the last IPL too but you suffered an injury so how was it making a comeback from that and how did you prepare,” asked Rohit.
“I was mentally strong. I was injured but I was longing to get out there and play. I wanted to perform well for my team and do better than ever before,” said Varma.
He said: “As you told me to take time with spinners, so when the fast bowlers came I collected runs.”
“The over that you scored 16 runs, was a crucial one for us. We needed 40 runs off 4 overs and after your over the difference came down to 8-9 runs so what were your target areas for those overs,” quizzed the skipper.
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Varma revealed, “I had in my mind to keep my head still and base strong. I focused more on playing my strengths – straight shots rather than trying unique shots.”
Recalling their last season, skipper Rohit said that they struggled a lot and recording a first win is always special.
Varma added: “Last year, we were waiting for that momentum with our first win. So, I was waiting for the same momentum to get going this season too.”
Here is the video: