IPL 2020: Match 45 – RR vs MI – Who Said What

The 45th match of the Indian Premier League 2020 got underway between defending champions Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals. RR won the high scoring contest by eight wickets in style. Batting first, MI posted handsome 195 on the board, but Rajasthan outclassed them outright. Mumbai started on an ordinary tone, but their end game got accelerated by Hardik Pandya’s bombastic innings (60* off 21). Suryakumar Yadav added an essential 40 off 26 from his end.

Ben Stokes was named player of the match as he drove RR home by his scintillating ton. Brief but significant appearances by Ishan Kishan (37 off 36) and Saurabh Tiwary (34 off 25) kept the team sailing. Rahul Tewatia turned economical for Rajasthan while Jofra Archer and Shreyas Gopal picked two wickets each for their team.

Stokes and Samson stitched 152 runs for RR

While chasing the big score, Robin Uthappa and Steven Smith returned in no time. However, fans watched with their eyes wide open when heroics by Stokes began as he smashed 107* runs off 60 balls. He was complemented well enough by Sanju Samson, who brought a prolific half-century (54* off 31) for his team. None of the bowlers could shine for Mumbai. However, James Pattinson got two wickets on his name.

Winning Skipper, Steve Smith said

Very pleased, that’s what we’re crying for, use the experience, take the game deep and that’s what both Stokes and Samson did. The wicket was playing good, the ball was coming onto the bat, there was intent – the shots were flowling, they just played good cricketing shots – I thought the partnership was fantastic. We played some good cricket in the first half, the dropped chance proved to be costly, perhaps we ended up giving away another 40-45 runs, but it didn’t matter in the end. I hope our batters take the confidence from this match and play knocks which will help the team win.

Losing Skipper, Kieron Pollard said

I thought they batted well. Hardik brought us straight back in the game with that knock at the halfway stage. We could have got a couple of wickets more, but the wicket ended up becoming a little better. Their spinners got some help from the pitch, but our spinners couldn’t do that. At the end of the day, someone wins, someone loses. We just have to come out and play good cricket. Our bowlers tried, but well played to the opposition. He (Hardik) went out and scored 60* off 21, an innings like that and we end up on the losing side, that’s just tough luck.

Player of the match, Ben Stokes said

Sour and sweet to be honest – it took so long to get one for the team. We needed a result from today, so – it’s a good victory. We came into the game with confidence. The ball was coming on nicely – be it short or full. The plan was to put pressure on every bowler, be it Bumrah or anyone. It’s a bit difficult at the moment, things are a bit tough back at home, hopefully, this will give them some happiness.