June 10 (Punjab Khabarnama) : Flamboyant India all-rounder Hardik Pandya proved his worth with the ball and claimed a couple of crucial wickets in India’s nail-biting six-run win over arch-rivals Pakistan on Sunday in New York. Pandya, who had a disappointing first half in the match with the bat where he scored just seven, proved his mettle with the ball and claimed the big wickets of Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan.
Pandya bowled with a lot of control and was disciplined with his line and length during his four-over spell. He gave just 24 runs at an economy rate of six and mixed his variations well to put doubts in the Pakistan batters’ minds. He outsmarted Fakhar with a short delivery. After watching the left-hander stepping out of his crease, the all-rounder banged it in short to get the better of India’s tormentor from the Champions Trophy 2017 final.
Shadab also became a victim of Pandya’s short delivery as he top-edged the ball before Pant completed his second catch. Pandya followed Shadab, who gave himself room but was unable to get his 100 behind the shot. As if the dismissal itself wasn’t enough, Hardik bragged by giving Shadab a cold send-off with a shrug of a shoulder reaction.
Rohit, Hardik back as brothers?
Things seem to be falling in place for Hardik. After a forgettable season with the MI where he captained the franchise and received severe backlash from the public, reports emerged that all may not be well between Hardik and Rohit Sharma. However, judging by the scenes on Sunday, we say it’s all water under the bridge. Rohit was over the moon seeing Hardik’s fine show with the ball and lifted him in jubilation.
Meanwhile, premier India pacer Jasprit Bumrah displayed once again why he is the called best in the business by many as he picked a three-fer and gave just 14 runs in his four overs. He also got great support from the other bowlers and kept things tight end as Hardik and Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets each.
Chasing a moderate 120-run target, Pakistan needed 18 runs from the last over but Arshdeep held his nerves despite getting hit for a couple of boundaries as India won the humdinger by a narrow margin.
After an underwhelming show from the batters, the pace combination of the ever-effective Bumrah (3/14) and Pandya brought India back from the dead with incisive spells that saw Pakistan lose wickets in a heap to end at 113 for seven in 20 overs.
It was India’s second win in as many games, while Pakistan succumbed to another loss following a shock defeat against the USA in their opener.