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On Thursday, July 27, at the Kensington Oval in Barbados, Team India dominated the West Indies in the first ODI of the series. India took the first turn at the bowling, dismissing West Indies for a meagre total of 114 runs in just 23 overs. Before captain Rohit Sharma scored the winning runs, the Men in Blue lost five wickets in what should have been an easy chase for India.
After Suryakumar Yadav was out for 19 runs off 25 balls in the second innings, India's vice-captain Hardik Pandya joined Ishan Kishan at the crease. Before being run out in an odd way, the 29-year-old scored 16 runs off 14 balls for the third-wicket partnership. In the 14th over of India's chase, Kishan hit a hard ball that Yannic Cariah attempted to grab but failed to do so.
Hardik Pandya made every effort to get to the crease in time, but the ball deviated from the bowler and struck the stumps at the non-striker's end. Pandya's bat was shown to be in the air as the third umpire reviewed the footage, and he was declared out. India was reduced to 70/3 in 13.1 overs by the loss of the all-rounder, and about 10 overs later they secured the victory.
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Fans and cricket fanatics, however, weren't pleased with the umpires, pointing out the rules of the game and arguing that Hardik shouldn't have been adjudged as dismissed.
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Although not that successful with the bat, Hardik Pandya got some success with the ball as he got India the first breakthrough wicket of Kyle Mayers, which started the collapse of the West Indian batting lineup. He will also lead the Men in Blue in the upcoming three-match T20I series against West Indies, starting from August 3.
