IPL 2020: 'Sort of bittersweet' says Stokes on his match-winning century against Mumbai

Ben Stokes termed his match-winning century against Mumbai as 'bittersweet' after Rajasthan comprehensively beat the title-holders by 8 wickets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Stokes remained unbeaten on a 60-ball 107 as the 2008 winners kept their Dream11 IPL 2020 playoff hopes alive.

'Sort of bittersweet': Ben Stokes

"Sort of bittersweet to be honest. It took so long to get one for the team. I would have preferred to get this form two or three games before when we weren't relying on other results to get us through to the qualifiers. It's always nice to get back to form. We needed a result from today, so - it's a good victory. Training yesterday was the best I have had for the full time I have been here. Came into the game with a lot more confidence than the other games. Nice to spend some time out in the middle and finish the game off. The ball was coming on nicely - be it short or full. It was hard when they dug it into the wicket. We got ourselves into a great position by putting the pressure back on every bowler who came on, 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," said Stokes during the post-match interview.

His skipper Steve Smith went on to say that he was very happy with Rajasthan's win.

"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 the intent - the shots were flowing, 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," said Smith.

Smith's opposite number Kieron Pollard heaped praise on that special innings from Hardik Pandya which helped Mumbai post a stiff total of 195/5.

"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 went out and scored 60* off 21, an innings like that and we end up on the losing side, that's just tough luck," he said.

(Image Courtesy: IPL Twitter)