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Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their first victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 after defeating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 49 runs on Wednesday, September 24.
The match treated the viewers with some fearless batting, disciplined bowling and a theatrical dismissal as well.
While Rohit Sharma’s spectacular show with the bat won many hearts, Hardik Pandya’s bizarre dismissal made him the subject of mockery and meme-fest on social media.
In the nineteenth over of the game, Andre Russell, to counter Hardik’s aggression, changed his angle and deliberately bowled a yorker wide outside the off stumps.
The MI all-rounder, sitting deep inside the crease tried to direct the ball towards the third man for a single. But Hardik’s closeness to the stumps hampered his execution as his bat hit the off-stump; resulting into a hit wicket dismissal.
Relive the moment here:
Cut too close for comfort there, @hardikpandya7 😅#Dream11IPL #CricketYourWay #IPL2020 #KKRvMI pic.twitter.com/662iKZkoG5
— Hotstar USA (@Hotstarusa) September 23, 2020
KKR loses their season-opener of IPL 2020
As far as the match is concerned, MI outclassed the Knight Riders on all front to win the clash.
Batting first, MI made 195/5 in twenty overs, courtesy a stellar half-century from Rohit Sharma ( 80 off 54) and a valuable contribution from the likes of Suryakumar Yadav ( 47 off 28 balls) and Saurabh Tiwary (21 off 13).
Chasing the target, KKR had a horrendous start as they lost both their openers, Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill, inside the powerplay.
They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and could only make 146/9 in twenty overs.
Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and James Pattinson picked two wickets apiece while Kieron Pollard, who was playing his 150th IPL match, picked up the crucial wicket of Nitish Rana.
Rohit was adjudged as ‘Player of the Match’ for his match-winning knock. MI skipper was elated with a win and said that he is content with his team’s performance.
Fantastic knock by Rohit Sharma – 80 off 54 balls
Full Scorecard: https://t.co/0Go40UvwVb#Mi #ipl #IPL2020 #cricket #rohitsharma pic.twitter.com/qrd7MSaFvD— CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) September 24, 2020
“The wicket was good and dew was coming down. I back myself to play the pull shots and have practiced quite a bit. Pretty happy with the performance of my squad,” remarked Rohit in a post-match conference.
