Ben Stokes IPL century: Twitter reactions on Stokes and Sanju Samson chasing 196 vs Mumbai Indians

Ben Stokes IPL century: The star English all-rounder has finally justified Rajasthan Royals’ decision of opening the batting with him.

During the 45th match of the ongoing 13th season of the Indian Premier League between Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals in Abu Dhabi, Rajasthan Royals beat Mumbai Indians by 8 wickets to register their fifth victory this season.

Chasing a mammoth 196-run target, Rajasthan never really played like a bottom-ranked team. Despite them losing opening batsman Robin Uthappa (13) and captain Steven Smith (11) inside the powerplay, persistence to open with all-rounder Ben Stokes paid-off as the Englishman registered his second IPL century in a winning cause.

Accompanied by wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson, the pair stitched together a match-winning 152-run partnership for the fourth wicket to leave the opposition bowlers clueless. Nullifying the consequential impact generated by Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya via his fourth IPL half-century, Stokes and Samson sealed the chase in the penultimate over.

The best part about the partnership was that runs were scored at an impressive uniform pace and not just towards the business end. While the same kept Royals into the match, it didn’t put unnecessary pressure on Stokes and Samson.

Stokes, who completed his half-century right at the halfway mark, crossed the three-figure mark in the last over of the match scoring 107* (60) including 14 fours and three sixes.

Samson, on the other hand, didn’t waste his start for a change as he contributed a well-made 54* (31) with the help of four fours and three sixes.

Ben Stokes IPL century

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