Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya was full of praises for Rajasthan Royals duo Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson after RR registered an 8-wicket win over the defending champions in Dubai.
Pandya said that he ‘enjoyed’ hitting sixes, and believed that at the end of MI’s innings they had enough runs on the board. Pandya roared back to form as he smashed seven sixes and two fours on his way to 60 off 21 balls to propel Mumbai Indians to 195/5 against Rajasthan Royals.
“Obviously, hitting sixes was fun and I enjoyed it. I thought we got enough runs, initially… when the second strategic time-out happened we were looking more at 165-170. Obviously, we got 25 runs more which I thought was enough but credit goes to Stokes and Sanju… they really batted well,” Hardik noted in the press conference.
The Royals rode on a superb hundred from Ben Stokes and a half-century from Sanju Samson to gun down 196 in 18.2 overs. Stoke made 107 not out and Samson scored 54 not out in their unbroken 152-run partnership for the third wicket.
“Sometimes, you have to give credit to the opposition as well. I feel that they really batted well, bowlers didn’t have much to do, it was their skills that worked for them. I think they took their chances and I think even luck was on their side, multiple inside and outside edges which went to the boundary, having said that they still played some outstanding shots, I don’t think our bowlers had many options.”
