Hardik Pandya had yet another disappointing outing with the bat ever since his return in the Indian team for the limited-overs series against England after Ben Stokes pulled off a stunning catch. After scoring 19 in the third T20I, he scored 11 off 8 balls in the fourth game. India scored 185/8 at the end of their 20 overs, with Shreyas Iyer (37) and Rishabh Pant (30) after Suryakumar’s Yadav’s exciting 57.
Coming into bat in the 17th over, Hardik Pandya was troubled England pacers Mark Wood and Jofra Archer with their pace and hard lengths. After scoring 11, he was dismissed by Mark Wood getting him caught by Ben Stokes at short mid-off.
Ben Stokes Pulls Off A Blinder To Dismiss Hardik Pandya
Meanwhile, a couple of catches by the England fielders was questionable with the Indian umpires not being able to come up with the correct decision. Ben Stokes’ catch to dismiss Hardik Pandya was a clean one and he stunned one and all. Deepak Chahar’s reaction from India’s dugout summed up how extraordinary that catch was from the English all-rounder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agXz_9I-Yv0&t=7s
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Umpire Nitin Menon referred it to the third umpire who finally ruled it in the favour of the bowling side. Earlier in the game, Suryakumar Yadav’s decision which ruled him out was another controversial one.
Dawid Malan could not complete the catch properly with replays showing that his fingers were not underneath the ball and that the ball had well and truly touched the ground before the catch was complete.
The third umpire had no conclusive evidence to rule the decision in favour of the batsmen after the on-field umpire put up a soft signal of out. He scored 57 off 31 balls after hitting a six to get started in international cricket.
Suryakumar Yadav hit Jofra Archer who bowled the delivery at 143.9 kph over fine leg for six to start off his T20I career. He pulled the ball with utmost ease over the fine-leg boundary as his Indian teammates enjoyed his shot at the dugout. It was 72 meter six. He has played the maximum number of IPL games before making his India debut. Also before his inclusion into the team for the series, he had scored the most runs by an uncapped player in the IPL.
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In the run chase, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow almost pulled off a win but Indian bowlers kept up their cool to seal the encounter and level terms in the series.