India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was on song in the high-voltage clash against Pakistan at Melbourne Cricket Ground in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022 on Sunday.
Pandya destroyed Pakistan’s middle-order with his hard lengths and picked up three wickets in his quota of 4 overs while conceding only 30 runs.
Pandya dismissed Shadab Khan (5), Haider Ali (2) and Mohammad Nawaz (9) to complete his three wickets tally. His reaction after dismissing Haider, however, grabbed maximum eyeballs as Pandya just smiled at the shot Haider played. The Pakistan batter tried to hoick a short ball over mid-wicket but was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at the wide long-on.
Here is the video:
— shehryar (@burnerthfcss) October 23, 2022
Apart from Pandya, Arshdeep Singh also shined with the ball for India after Rohit Sharma won the toss and put Pakistan into bat first. Arshdeep gave India a brilliant start by dismissing Pakistan skipper Babar Azam on a golden duck and then sent back Mohammad Rizwan (4) cheaply as well.
Following the wickets of Babar and Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed (51) and Shan Masood added 76 runs for the third wicket to stabilize the innings. Iftikhar smashed 4 sixes and a couple of fours before Mohammad Shami dismissed him for a well-made 51 off 34 balls.
Pakistan then lost a few more wickets in quick successions, but Shan Masood kept his end alive and ensured his team reached a competitive total. The left-handed batter stayed unbeaten at 52 from 42 deliveries with the help of five boundaries to help Pakistan post 159/8 in their allotted 20 overs.
