5 things that helped Ben Stokes vs Gujarat Lions

#2 Timing rather than brute force

The Englishman found the gaps well against Gujarat Lions

Stokes’ century had everything beautiful about watching left-handed batting – elegance and the characteristic cover drive of a southpaw. There have been times when Stokes has tried to hit his way out of trouble and go hell for leather in this IPL.

But on this occasion, he played some of the most conventional cricketing shots, thus reducing the risk early on in his innings. He took his time initially, getting to a run a ball 12 with a couple of boundaries.

He hit 39 of his 103 runs in the ‘V’ behind the bowler, straight down the ground, with a straight bat. Even after getting his eye in, he did manage to thump the ball to all parts but was heavily reliant on timing the ball to the empty regions to rotate the strike efficiently.