Hardik Pandya once again showed his finishing skills as India beat Bangladesh by seven wickets in the first T20I to take the lead in the three-match series on Sunday (October 6).
India, who were bowled out for a modest total of 128 runs, were worried after losing wickets of two consecutive innings. The hosts were 65/1 at one stage before Suryakumar Yadav (29) and Sanju Samson (29) departed quickly to leave the team at 80/3.
On the other hand, the onus was on Hardik Pandya to bail the team out of trouble with debutant Nitish Reddy batting and he did not disappoint. The former T20I vice-captain played a stunning knock of 39 runs to take India to the finish line.
His knock was just 16 deliveries and was studded with five fours and two sixes. Pandya also shared an unbeaten stand of 52 runs with Reddy playing second fiddle to perfection. Reddy remained unbeaten on 16 off 15 balls.
Hardik Pandya’s Strange Four:
Hardik Pandya completed the game in style for Team India. He won in the 12th over of India’s innings Tashkin Ahmed To the sweepers to take India over the line. The all-rounder hit the Bangladesh pacer for two consecutive fours and a six to end the game in style.
Apart from his finishing skills, Pandya also grabbed everyone’s attention with his four off Taskin. In the fourth ball of the 12th over, Pandya hit the ball for a boundary even after losing his grip on the bat completely.
After a full toss on the stumps by Taskin, Pandya swung hard at the ball. With that he lost his grip on the bat and it flew towards the leg side. But before that, the ball hit the bat and ran towards the fence, surprising everyone.
Watch four from Hardik Pandya:
#HARDIKPANDYATHE MAN IN THE MESSIAH 💪
– 39*(16) with the bat.
– collect 26/1(4).Indian cricket is lucky to have Hardik in white ball cricket.#INDvBAN pic.twitter.com/7kiJnY4FHo
— Rakesh Bhakhar (@Rakeshbhakharj) October 6, 2024
Both ball and bat in the air!😂🔥
Hardik ❤️🔥#INDvsBAN #HardikPandya pic.twitter.com/xp10xOx4fP— Ansu Anto (@ansuanto96) October 6, 2024
Bangladesh were bowled out for 127 runs at the start of the game. At one stage they were reeling at 57/5 until Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s unbeaten knock of 35 runs took them to 120-plus. Arshdeep Singh and Varun Chakravarthy scored 3 goals each for India.
