Ben Stokes hammered an unbeaten 103 under pressure to lead Rising Pune Supergiant to a five-wicket win over Gujarat Lions that consolidated their fourth position in the IPL standings.
Chasing 162 to win, the hosts were reeling at 42 for four when Stokes entered and blasted quick runs off his bat to ensure that the good job done by the bowlers did not go waste.
Stokes braved cramps towards the end of the chase and batted with determination to help RPS take two points and enhance their play-off chances.
Gujarat Innings
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir rocked the Lions' batting order with a three-wicket burst to help his side bundle out the rivals for a modest 161 in 19.5 overs.
Suresh Raina’s outfit were off to a flying start with Brendon McCullum (45) and Ishan Kishan (31) adding 55 quick runs for the first wicket but after the Tahir breakthrough, Gujarat lost their way, losing quick wickets.
Tahir not only broke the opening stand but also got rid of Aaron Finch (13) and Dwayne Smith (0) in successive balls.
The South African spinner conceded 27 runs in his four overs.
Lions could not exploit a good batting wicket and if it was not for Dinesh Karthik's sensible 29-run knock, they would not have put on board a respectable total.
Paceman Jaydev Unadkat (3/29) also took three wickets to wipe off the tail.
Pune’s Chase
Left-arm paceman Pradeep Sangwan provided the Lions a perfect start by dismissing both Ajinkya Rahane (4) and Steve Smith (4) in the very first over. Soon it was 42 for four with Manoj Tiwary (0) getting trapped by Basil Thampi and Rahul Tripathi (6) run out.
From there, Stokes joined forces with MS Dhoni and the duo added 76 runs for the fifth-wicket to frustrate the Lions.
Stokes' onslaught began when he smashed Ravindra Jadeja for two sixes to collect 15 runs from the 10th over and never looked back. Dhoni played the second-fiddle as the former India captain was happy rotating the strike and finding a boundary here and there.
RPS needed 60 off the final five overs and the Englishman creamed off 16 runs from Dwayne Smith's 16th over but Dhoni hit one straight to McCullum in the next over by Thampi. Out on 26.
Stokes, though, stayed till the end to take the side to finish line. His 103 came off 63 balls with seven fours and six sixes.
RPS now have 12 points from 10 matches to be in fourth spot while Lions are sixth with six points.
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