England all-rounder Ben Stokes played an instrumental role in Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) comprehensive eight-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Dubai on Sunday (October 25).

See Also: Kieron Pollard assesses MI's eight-wicket loss to RR in high-scoring tussle 

Chasing 196 to win, Stokes finished with 107 not out off 60 balls (14 fours and 3 sixes) as RR overhauled the daunting target with 10 deliveries to spare.

Speaking after the game, Stokes, who was adjudged Player-of-the-Match, dedicated his century to his father who is battling it out with cancer.

Notably, Stokes missed the initial few matches of this year's IPL to be with his ailing father in Christchurch.

"It's sort of bittersweet, to be honest. A bit taken aback by why it's taken me so long to get into the tournament for the team. 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," Stokes said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

"The harder shot to play was when they dug into the wicket. And we scored off Bumrah probably a lot freer than we thought we'd be able to. Things are a bit difficult right now, but hope this has given a bit of happiness back home," he added.

During the chase, RR lost Robin Uthappa (13) and Steve Smith (11) cheaply but the duo of Stokes and Sanju Samson wreaked havoc on MI bowlers, sharing an unbroken 152-run stand from 82 deliveries.

Samson played the role of second fiddle to perfection, remaining unbeaten on 54 off 31 balls.

With this win, Rajasthan Royals have now moved to sixth place in the points table with 10 points while Mumbai Indians are still heading the list with 14 points.