The Rajasthan Royals don’t seem to lose any hope as we witnessed Ben Stokes smash his maiden IPL hundred against Mumbai Indians in what was said to be a dead rubber. Ben Stokes who was under the hammer since last few games opened for the Rajasthan Royals side yet again as they comprehensively beat Mumbai Indians who are on a phenomenal run this season.
It all started at the toss as Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to bat first, today again Mumbai Indians were without the services of Rohit Sharma as the batsman was still recovering from the hamstring injury. Which meant Kieron Pollard was leading the side yet again in his absence. Mumbai Indians made one change to their playing XI as James Pattinson returned back to the side in place of Nathan Coulter-Nile whereas Rajasthan Royals went unchanged.
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The Ben Stokes Show at Abu Dhabi
Batting first Mumbai Indians lost Quinton De Kock very early on in the powerplay, then it was Surya Kumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan who held on to stitch a valuable partnership for the 2nd wicket. The innings concluded with serious firepower hitting by Hardik Pandya as they ended the innings with 195 runs on the board.
In the chase, It was just about Ben Stokes who was under the hammer since last few matches but today he went on to smash an unbeaten ton opening the innings for Rajasthan Royals as they chased down the target of 196 runs under 19 overs. Sanju Samson also made valuable contributions as he went on to score his third fifty of the season.
Century was Sort of Bittersweet To Be Honest: Ben Stokes
The man of the match of today’s match between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals was Ben Stokes for his astonishing century knock. At the post-match presentation, Ben Stokes said it took him quite long to get a match-winning knock for his side but just wasn’t able to. He further mentioned how his form should’ve clicked 2-3 matches before when now they’re just relying on results of other sides to qualify.
“Sort of bittersweet to be honest – it took so long to get one for the team. I would have preferred to get this form two or three games before when we weren’t relying on other results to get us through to the qualifiers. It’s always nice to get back to form. We needed a result from today, so – it’s a good victory. Training yesterday was the best I have had for the full time I have been here. Came into the game with a lot more confidence than the other games.”
Stokes revealed how the ball was coming on the bat be it short or full. They build the pressure on the Mumbai Indians bowlers as in when the bowlers changed which helped the Rajasthan Royals batsmen capitalize. Since thing arent great at Ben Stokes’ residence back home, he hopes that this knock brings some happiness to the Englishman’s family.
“Nice to spend some time out in the middle and finish the game off. The ball was coming on nicely – be it short or full. It was hard when they dug it into the wicket. We got ourselves into a great position by putting the pressure back on to every bowler who came on. They have obviously got Bumrah, which we managed to score probably a lot freer than we thought we’d be able to. It’s a bit difficult at the moment, things are a bit tough back at home, hopefully, this will give them some happiness.”
