MI vs RR, 45th Match at Abu Dhabi, IPL, Oct 25 2020 - Ball by Ball Commentary

9:55pm And that is all from our coverage tonight. We'll see you tomorrow. Good night!

Ben Stokes: It's sort of bittersweet to be honest. Bit 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. It was coming on nicely. The harder shot to play was when they dug into the wicket. And we scored off Bumrah porbably 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 hope this has given a bit of happiness back home.

Ben Stokes is the Man of the Match.

Steven Smith: Very pleased. That's what we've been crying out for, two of our experienced players to take it deep and the way they played, very pleased. I think the wicket was playing good today, the ball was coming on nice. I think Stokes' intent from first ball - he got into a nice groove tonight. They just played good cricket shots to keep the rate in check. We did a lot of things right, taking wickets in the middle, but the dropped catch was pretty costly in the middle. Great hitting from Hardik, probably didn't get our plans right either. I just hope our batters from tonight can take a bit of confidence and momentum into the next two games. It's what we've lacked, out experienced batters getting winning scores.

Sanju Samson: I kept on believing in myself. When you play 14 games, you will go through ups and downs. Different wickets you play differently and that's what I did today. Last 2-3 games we've spent some time together, this game was the best one. To be very honest, I wasn't looking at the required runs, I just reacted to the ball. My game is simple, I hit it if it's there and take singles and doubles otherwise. I did give myself time but I was looking for boundaries. The intent was there, but I took 5-6 balls to get myself in. [The gesture after fifty] I was just reminding myself of my name, Samson is the strongest man in the world. (A biblical reference)

Kieron Pollard: I thought Hardik brought us straight back into the game, but well played to Stokes and well played to Samson. The wicket ended up being a good wicket with a little bit of dew. It played into their strengths. But having said that, well played to the opposition. It really doesn't do much to the campaign, we still have three games to do. We just have to come out with good cricket. Our bowlers tried but it wasn't meant to be today. [Hardik] keeps showing time and time again, doesn't matter the position of the team. Tough luck an innings like that he ends up on the losing side.

Manish: "Finally, a good sleep for Ankit Rajpoot and Kartik Tyagi thanks to special knock of Ben Stokes and Smart batting of Sanju Samson. Brilliant teamwork."

Manish: "Finally, a good sleep for Ankit Rajpoot and Kartik Tyagi thanks to special knock of Ben Stokes and Smart batting of Sanju Samson. Brilliant teamwork."

Rangara: "This match proves that Mumbai can be beatable in play offs so no team should fear them"

Akhilesh: "Incredible innings from Stokes. He's facing a lot of personal problems and coming here and conjuring up an knock like this...absolutely no words."

saheras: "so technically stokes still doesnt have a fifty in Ipl for RR; he got a hundred but not a fifty"

Milan Panth: "Even though it's a bit late, Stokes found his form. Hopefully, this will bring something for the Royals. Expecting an interesting competition between the teams for qualification to semis!"

9:35pm More records - this is the highest ever chase against Mumbai Indians. By a run, with 195 being the previous highest. They would have got more too with this kind of batting. The win is sealed with ten balls to spare and by an unbeaten stand of 152. They made 65 runs between the 13th and 16th overs, which is a reflection of how well the surface was playing through the middle overs as well; but mostly it was the perfectly paced chase. The required rate rarely got into double figures, throughout the innings, and that was down to Stokes' relentless attack right from the first over he faced, off which he made 16. Sanju Samson took a bit of time in his first 20 or so deliveries before exploding to life with some trademark languid six-hitting. In the end, a total that seemed above par ended up looking a rather simple chase. Rajasthan Royals stay alive for the playoffs. Chennai Super Kings officially become the first team to be out of the reckoning.

Benjie: "Well things have been crazy this IPL....even now Mr @Varun Shetty doesnt dare count MI out...xD"

Rajkumar Lingav: "Pollard's captaincy winning stream will come to an end today." --- Has 15 wins in a row before this. It will also be his first IPL loss as captain if Royals close this off.

Bumrah to bowl out

Time out. 65 have come off the last four overs and the required rate is run-a-ball now.