IPL 2020: Hardik's blitz went in vain as Ben, Sanju power RR to eight-wicket win over MI

Ben Stokes scored a magnificent ton while Sanju Samson scored an attractive half-century as Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by eight wickets in Match 45 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in Abu Dhabi on October 25.

After MI posted 195 on the board on the back of Hardik Pandya’s 21-ball 60*-run blitz, which included 7 sixes and 2 fours, RR needed something special to pull off a win and Stokes and Samson did just that.

While MI, defending 195, picked two quick wickets in the powerplay as James Pattinson dismissed Robin Uthappa and Steve Smith.

Samson and Stokes joined forces in the fifth over of the RR chase. The two made sure their side always remained in the hunt as the pair took RR to 99/2 at the halfway stage of their innings.

While MI conceded just 4 runs in the 18th over, Stokes closed out the game, hitting a six and a four on the first balls of the penultimate over and in that process, completed a stunning hundred.

MI, while batting first, were 89/1, with Kishan and Surya batting on 37 and 38 respectively. RR, then pulled back the things as Kartik Tyagi and Shreyas Gopal joined forces to scalp three wickets in the space of the next three overs.

Having lost three wickets for 15 runs, MI were looking for a solid partnership and Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya delivered.

Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 196/2 (Ben Stokes 107*, Sanju Samson 54*; James Pattinson 2/40) beat Mumbai Indians 195/5 (Hardik Pandya 60*, Suryakumar Yadav 40; Shreyas Gopal 2/30) by eight wickets

Courtesy: www.iplt20.com