Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith described the partnership between Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson as "sensational" and said the eight-wicket win over Mumbai Indians was just the kind of result they needed to get their IPL campaign back on track.
Rajasthan rode on a blistering 107 by Stokes and an equally aggressive 54 by Samson to overhaul the 196-run target with 10 balls to spare.
The duo forged an unbeaten 152-run stand for the second wicket.
"Very pleased, that's what we were crying for, two of our experienced players… take the game deep and the way I think those two (Stokes and Samson) finished it off today and played was sensational, so very pleased," Smith said at the post match presentation.
"The wicket was playing good and the ball was coming on nicely, so I thought his (Stokes’) intent from ball one – playing good hard cricket shots, taking the game on and that is the way he plays his best and he got into a nice groove tonight.
"I thought that partnership with him (Stokes) and Sanju was sensational,” added the Australian.
Smith said that his team was lacking match-winning contributions from experienced players, which it did against Mumbai.
"I hope our batters from tonight take a bit of confidence and momentum into the next game.
"That is what we have lacked, our experienced players going on to make match-winning contributions and getting the team close to home or home, as they did tonight, so I thought the guys did a fantastic job and hopefully we can take that into the next two games," he said.
