Rising Pune Supergiant took on Sunrisers Hyderabad in what was an high-octane match for various reasons. RPS need a win to solidify their chances and so does SRH, both teams in the race for the playoffs. SRH won the toss and invited RPS to bat. They got off to a detrimental start and that set them back, they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. That did not help, but eyes were on Ben Stokes who was in rich-vain of form and they were expecting him to get going. Steven Smith was there at the other end and he was happy ticking singles and twos.
They were 39 for 2 when Ben Stokes walked into the middle, they were looking to get the innings back on track. Stokes was initially quiet, but then he cut lose as Rashid Khan was introduced and was spinning the ball into the left-hander. Stokes hit him initially for two back-to-back sixes. That really put Rashid Khan off his line and length. So, here is what happened when the score was 99. Stokes gave Khan the charge, he dragged the length back, that is when he played the wrong line, he was way down the track and could not get back in time. In fact, there was a small juggle by Naman Ojha, but he got the ball back and dislodged the bails in a jiffy.
Rashid Khan was very economical, he gave away only 18 runs and picked up the solitary wicket of Ben Stokes in his 4 overs.
