Credit: Twitter
Hardik Pandya, the Indian all-rounder, gave a big send-off to the Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq, after dismissing him at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on Saturday, October 14. The ongoing high octane clash between India and Pakistan at the ODI World Cup 2023 has seen both the teams make a steady start, until the fall of second wicket, tilting the balance in favour of the hosts.
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The big send-off from Hardik Pandya came on the third ball of the 13th over, when he managed to find the outside edge of the bat of Imam-ul-Haq, with KL Rahul, the Indian wicket-keeper, completing a smart catch diving to his left behind the stumps. The animated wicket taking celebration from the 30-year-old came, after he was smashed for a boundary through the off side on the previous ball of the over.
Watch Hardik Pandya's animated wicket taking celebration here:
For the unveresed, it was the Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who won the toss and put Pakistan in to bat first. Jasprit Bumrah bowled a quality first spell for India, while Mohammed Siraj was taken for a few boundaries in his first couple of overs, owing to the attacking lines and lengths from him, on a placid batting pitch.
But, in the fourth over of his spell, Mohammed Siraj picked up the first wicket of the day for Team India, trapping Abdullah Shafique in front of the stumps for 20 off 24 balls. Hardik Pandya came into the attack as the first change bowler, picking up the key wicket of Imam-ul-Haq for 36 off 38 balls.
Mohammad Rizwan was given out lbw for 1, off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja, but he managed to survive at the crease, thanks to the timely call of taking the DRS. As of this writing, Pakistan are 103/2 in 20 overs, with Babar Azam on 30 off 33 balls, partnered with Mohammad Rizwan on 16 off 25 balls.
