The first match of the India vs South Africa T20I series is happening right now at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. South Africa won the toss and opted to field first. Hardik Pandya has become a talking point on social media after he seemingly denied a single to Dinesh Karthik on the penultimate ball of the Indian innings.
India had to play with a new opening pair of Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad after KL Rahul got injured. Both openers played fearless cricket. While Gaikwad scored 23 runs off 15 deliveries, smashing three sixes, Kishan aggregated 76 runs off 48 deliveries, smacking 11 fours and three maximums. They had an opening partnership of 57 runs in 6.2 overs.
Shreyas Iyer joined Ishan Kishan in the middle after Wayne Parnell dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad. Both players took the score of 137 before Kishan handed a catch to debutant Tristan Stubbs off Keshav Maharaj’s bowling. Iyer lost his stumps to Dwaine Pretorius soon as India were down to 156/3.
Captain Rishabh Pant played a handy cameo of 29 runs from 16 balls. Hardik Pandya continued his excellent batting form and smacked an unbeaten 12-ball 31. Dinesh Karthik, playing his first international match since 2019, scored one run off two deliveries. Karthik could have played one more ball, but Pandya denied him the strike even though an easy single was available on the penultimate ball.
Hardik hit the ball from Anrich Nortje towards the leg-side. The ball traveled to the fielder in the deep, who collected it without any haste. Interestingly, the duo did not run as Hardik retained the strike. He tried to hit a boundary on the final delivery, but he got only two runs.
Fans on Twitter react as Hardk Pandya seemingly denies a single to Dinesh Karthik
Here are some of the top Twitter reactions to that incident:
Hardik Pandya denying Dinesh Karthik the strike on the last ball as if DK is a tailender…. 😭😭😭😭#bcci #INDvsSA #INDvSA #SAvsIND #TeamIndia #DK was literally like – pic.twitter.com/z18qYRwV67
— Maddy (@EvilRashford) June 9, 2022
Ridiculous of Hardik Pandya to not take a single of the penultimate ball of the innings, the batsman at the other end was not No. 10 or No. 11, he was DK.#INDvsSA
— Vipul Ghatol 🇮🇳 (@Vipul_Espeaks) June 9, 2022
Didnt like the way Hardik Pandya denied strike to Dinesh Karthik..Com'on man he isnt a bowler..Probably he is one of best and most experienced finisher…
— Jasly (@Jasly_forever18) June 9, 2022
Hardik Pandya didn't give strike to Dinesh Karthik, Man with the highest strike rate in IPL #INDvsSA pic.twitter.com/LEp2cZSrbp
— शुद्ध गरीब 🏹 (@ShuddhGarib) June 9, 2022
Hardik Pandya refused to take a single on the penultimate ball of the 20th over even when Dinesh Karthik was the at the other end. Wooooo!
— Aritra Mukherjee (@aritram029) June 9, 2022
Once Dinesh Karthik denied the strike to Krunal Pandya. Tonight, Hardik Pandya has denied the strike to Dinesh Karthik 😂 #INDvSA
— Shubh Aggarwal (@shubh_chintak) June 9, 2022
I don't think Dinesh Karthik is a tailender but hardik pandya does.#justiceForKarthik😂
— Vipul Sharma (@vipul_sharma04) June 9, 2022
What's this hardik man Karthik had the highest strike rate this IPL and this hardik guy denying a single?
— Pratham Shah (@pdshah1817) June 9, 2022
People are complaining that Hardik didn't give strike to Dinesh Karthik for the last ball but from video it seemed that DK himself asked Hardik to stay on crease as Hardik was in good touch. Will be exact clear after the video. It may be possible as DK is selfless.#INDvsSA
— Ajay Kumar (@AjayKum0502) June 9, 2022
Great batting. Only thought Hardik Pandya should trust others too, should have taken the run at 19.5, Dinesh Karthik also know how to hit #INDvSA
— Ravish khan (@Ravishk21097009) June 9, 2022
Strange 🤔🤔🤔 Hardik didn't give strike to Dinesh Karthik . #CricketTwitter #INDvSA
— ସୁଜିତ୍ କୁମାର ନାୟକ (@SujitKrNayak) June 9, 2022
