Ben Stokes dedicates match-winning century for Rajasthan Royals to his father! Know the reason

Abu Dhabi, October 25: Ben Stokes made a match-winning unbeaten hundred to spur Rajasthan Royals to a stunning eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday (October 25). Stokes then raised his bat as a tribute to his father, who is recovering from an illness in New Zealand.

Stokes arrived for the IPL 2020 a couple of weeks into the tournament as he was tending to his father, who was diagonsed with brain cancer a few months back. The England all-rounder was struggling to make an impact so far and Stokes made his presence felt in the most emphatic of ways.

"It's sort of bittersweet to be honest. I am bit a taken aback by why it has taken me so long to get into the tournament for the team. Things are a bit difficult right now (back at his home in NZ), but hope this has given a bit of happiness back home," said Stokes in the post- match presentation ceremony.

Stokes said he has been training hard before every match. "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 too and a lot freer than we thought we'd be able to," said Stokes, who was adjudged the Man of the Match.

Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith too was pleased as punch after the important win. "This is 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 nicely. I think Stokes' intent from first ball - he got into a nice groove.

"They (Stokes and Sanju Samson) played good cricket shots to keep the rate in check. 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," said Smith.