IPL 2020 | Came into this clash with a bit of confidence, reveals Ben Stokes

With scores of 5, 41, 15, 19 and 30, Ben Stokes couldn’t quite light up the tournament, with his free-flowing batting for the Royals. In the later innings, the left-handed batsman was elevated to the top of the order, where he struggled more times than not to carry on to make a substantial score for the franchise in the 2020 edition of the tournament. However, against Mumbai, he made sure that he didn’t repeat the string of low scores, with a scintillating century. 

Chasing a high-score of 195, the openers - Robin Uthappa and Stokes were put under immense pressure by the new-ball bowling from James Pattinson, who accounted for both Uthappa and later Steve Smith. While the wickets fell in couple, the English all-rounder and Sanju Samson put on a show like never before, with a 60-ball 107 while the right-handed Samson scored 31-ball 54, to take home with ten deliveries. 

In the post-match presentation, Stokes, who was named as the Man of the Match, admitted that he came into the encounter against Mumbai with a bit of confidence, after a string of bad scores. He also stated that it is a bittersweet feeling for him while he was a bit taken aback by his performance. 

“It's sort of bittersweet to be honest. Abit taken aback by why it's taken me so long to get into the tournament for the team. To be honest the training I've had yesterday was the best I had throughout my time here, so I came into this with a bit of confidence,” said Ben Stokes in the post-match presentation. 

While Jasprit Bumrah was expected to be a major threat, the way the duo tackled his bowling was exceptional. In the same line, the southpaw also revealed that the knock was a tribute to his dad while also admitting that they were able to score freely than expected off Bumrah’s bowling. 

“It was coming on nicely. The harder shot to play was when they dug into the wicket. And we scored off Bumrah probably a lot freer than we thought we'd be able to. [Tribute to his father when he raised the bat] Things are a bit difficult right now, but hopefully this has given a bit of happiness back home.”