Ben Stokes produced one of the best T20 innings of recent times to help RPS recover from their initial slump to knock the Lions out of this season’s IPL. With a million dollar sword hanging around his neck, Stokes’ every move was being highly scrutinised by onlookers, as with big money comes huge responsibility. And boy did he live up to his price tag tonight.
Coming in at 10-3, with Smith, Rahane and Tiwary already back in the hut, it just felt like the stage was set for the million dollar man to prove his worth. Recklessness was not an option today, everything had to be measured, had to be inch perfect, it just couldn’t go wrong tonight.
And wasn’t the script just perfect? A tottering side, a messed up chase, and a multi million dollar man to engineer the fairytale that everyone hoped for.
Stokes set the ball rolling from the word go, getting timley boundaries and keeping the score board ticking. Dhoni and him had it under control, until Dhoni holed out in a attempt to break free. But Stokes had it all covered. He switched gears immediately, getting 2 boundaries every over to seal the game with ease for RPS.
This is how Twitter reacted to this million dollar hundred from Stokes:
Yes, after a slightly underwhelming April, he has started well in May. https://t.co/qUzMlLOwDU
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/YUVSTRONG12/status/859106801685590016
https://twitter.com/davidwarner31/status/859105233091383296
102 out of 158 coming in at 10-3. Will go down as one of the innings of the #IPL from @benstokes38
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/859106029392584704
Ben Stokes is the second player to win three Man of the Match on debut season after Sunil Narine in 2012 (excluding inaugural IPL).#RPSvGL
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) May 1, 2017
More reactions on the next page:
Christian has exotic pagan strokes too in his repertoire! Great 6 to finish. But Pune's hero clearly Stokes. And dont forget Tahir's 3 wkts
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 1, 2017
Ben Stokes from losing the WT20 finals by conceding 4 sixes to most expensive IPL player and now smashed his first T20 Century..
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) May 1, 2017
#Stokes : Me & #MSDhoni tried to tick along & get something going. We wanted to attack early, then cool off to take it over by over #RPSvGL
— MS Dhoni Fans Official (@msdfansofficial) May 1, 2017
The Big Ben !
Worth a 14.5 crores for this belittle cruiser.#stokes #ImStoked— Shyam Sundar TK (@shyamsundartk) May 1, 2017
What a breathtaking knock from…#ben stokes…he prooves to owner of pune that they didnt done mistake by purchasing him…great affort…
— Manish Dubey (@Maddy6195) May 1, 2017
More reactions on the next page:
After ABD, Gayle, Pollard and Malinga, I see Ben Stokes as the next overseas cricketer to become a cult figure in India because of the IPL
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 1, 2017
See, THAT is why you send England players to the IPL. Sell out crowd, massive pressure to perform. Awesome from Stokes
— Peter Miller (@TheCricketGeek) May 1, 2017
There are some serious cricketers at the Ipl #stokes
— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) May 1, 2017
Given the circumstances of match & the league, Ben Stokes's should make his franchise believe they have have underpaid him!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 1, 2017
https://twitter.com/shyamsundartk/status/85911285569785446
