Xtra Time Web Desk: Ben Stokes finally came good in the ongoing Indian Premier League as his brilliant hundred (107* from 60 balls) helped Rajasthan Royals cruise to a comfortable 8 wickets win against Mumbai Indians in Match 44 of IPL 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Sunday. Stokes was ably supported by Sanju Samson who matched with his more distinguished teammate for stroke play as he played an outstanding knock of 54* off 31 balls. The duo stitched an unbeaten partnership of 152 runs for the third wicket to see RR chase the daunting total of 196 runs to win with 10 balls to spare.
Earlier Hardik Pandya scored an unbeaten 60 from 21 balls as Mumbai Indians posted a gigantic 195/5 on the board. After electing to bat first, Mumbai lost Quinton de Kock in the first over. But steady knock from Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Saurabh Tiwary laid the perfect platform for Hardik Pandya to explode in the final phase.
Reflecting on the astonishing run chase, Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith said, “That’s what we’ve been crying out for, two of our experienced players to take it deep and the way they played, very pleased. I think the wicket was playing good today, the ball was coming on nice. I think Stokes’ intent from first ball – he got into a nice groove tonight. They just played good cricket shots to keep the rate in check.. I just hope our batters from tonight can take a bit of confidence and momentum into the next two games. It’s what we’ve lacked, out experienced batters getting winning scores.”
Losing captain Kieron Pollard said, “I thought Hardik brought us straight back into the game, but well played to Stokes and well played to Samson. The wicket ended up being a good wicket with a little bit of dew. It played into their strengths. But having said that, well played to the opposition. It really doesn’t do much to the campaign, we still have three games to do. We just have to come out with good cricket. “