Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Hardik Pandya led the side from the front with a half-century but cannot help the side continue the winning run, going down to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). Kane Williamson and Co chased down 163 runs convincingly with five balls to spare.
The Gujarat franchise didn’t had a great start as they lost wickets at regular intervals. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan were back in the hut when Hardik walked out in the middle. He alongside David Miller helped Gujarat Titans cross the 100-run mark but struggled to shift gears in the final few overs.
Hardik Pandya eventually remained unbeaten on 50 runs off 42 balls to propel Gujarat to 162 runs. Karnataka’s Abhinav Manohar also chipped in with some crucial runs after getting a few reprieves.
Meanwhile, the 28-year-old half-century has landed a fan in trouble. He came to watch the game with a placard, ‘If Hardik hits 50, I’ll resign from my job‘. As the camera panned onto him, the image of the banner went viral on social media and it inspired hilarious reactions especially after Hardik Pandya indeed got to his fifty.
Here are some hilarious reactions:
Hardik is such a legend. He got someone out while he was batting pic.twitter.com/Bd7UVCnTZU
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) April 11, 2022
— x (@_Mementos) April 11, 2022
Finally an idealistic use of this meme pic.twitter.com/4vLP5dMfGo
— Vinesh Prabhu (@vlp1994) April 11, 2022
If he came to know that Hardik is charging 15 crores to score those 50 runs,then he definitely would have asked for 50 runs plus 5 wickets plus 5 runouts plus 5 catches…he would also expect Hardik to win IPL for next 5 seasons… pic.twitter.com/MD7i8Jxq17
— Sunny 3.O (@Sunny3_O) April 11, 2022
He is not the first guy whose job got affected by Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul still remains first. pic.twitter.com/HBnrsXJzLu
— Satyam Singh (@MyFreakyTweets) April 11, 2022
This is now what he need most pic.twitter.com/phgruAhVk4
— SM (@dickjorsey) April 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/akshaykumar_twi/status/1513556830466686977?s=20&t=Xau9v2Swp-Jqh-HB8dXogw
Isi ke wajah se aaj hardik ne sabse dheema 50 mara apne ipl career ka, socha Aaj is bechare ki murad poora kar dete hai
— Raghib Reza (راغب) 🇮🇳 (@raghibreza) April 11, 2022
However, Hardik Pandya’s 50 was not enough to continue their winning streak. Kane Williamson and Abhishek Sharma gave Hyderabad a perfect start before Nicholas Pooran sealed the tie with a small cameo.
“We were 7-10 runs short” – Hardik Pandya after his first defeat as captain
The 28-year-old cricketer from Baroda feels that his side was marginally short of a par score at the DY Patil Stadium. Gujarat Titans suffered their first loss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after three wins on the trot.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony Hardik Pandya said, “I think batting-wise, maybe we were 7-10 runs short. Those 10 runs would have made a difference in the end. We had a good start with the ball but those two overs in the Powerplay brought them back into the game.”
Gujarat Titans will play their next game against Rajasthan Royals on Thursday at the DY Patil Sports Academy.
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