IPL 2020: Twitter erupts as Stokes hundred helps RR thrash MI by 8 wickets
The Rajasthan Royals (RR) thrashed the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 8 wickets to keep their hopes of a playoff spot alive in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2020).
MI were once again without regular captain Rohit Sharma, and Jofra Archer provided yet another early breakthrough by dismissing the in-form Quinton de Kock. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan then stitched together an impressive partnership before the English pacer plucked a stunner on the boundary to send the latter back to the hut.
Saurabh Tiwary and Hardik Pandya halted a brief middle-order collapse, and MI experienced an incredible period of acceleration towards the end of their innings. Ankit Rajpoot and Kartik Tyagi were taken to the cleaners, with Pandya finishing on an unbeaten 60 off just 21 balls.
Having recovered to post 195, MI were firmly in the driver's seat. But RR started positively, and even though Robin Uthappa and Steve Smith didn't survive the powerplay, they never stopped playing their shots.
Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson, both of whom weren't in great form coming into this game, took the attack to every single MI bowler. Clearing the boundary at will and dispatching the plethora of loose balls that were on offer, Samson and Stokes ensured that RR got over the line comfortably in the end.
While the Kerala batsman finally scored his third IPL 2020 fifty, Stokes registered his second IPL hundred and hit the winning runs in the penultimate over. With RR's win, the Chennai Super Kings became the first team to be mathematically eliminated from IPL 2020, while MI's hopes of a top-two finish took a slight hit.
Click here to find out who was IPL yesterday's match winner.
Twitter had a lot to say, and here are the best reactions from the RR vs MI IPL 2020 game.
Twitter reacts to IPL 2020, RR vs MI