Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya has been quite impressive with his batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League. GT are number one on the points table right now, with eight wins from 10 matches. They are playing their 11th match of the season against the five-time champions Mumbai Indians.
Pandya won the toss and elected to field first. Mumbai Indians got off to a good start as the duo of Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma provided a great start to their team. However, both openers were back in the dressing room before they could complete their half-centuries.
Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard lost their wickets cheaply. Tilak Verma and Tim David then came into the middle and tried to stabilize the innings. They both played good knocks and built an impressive partnership. It looked like they would guide MI to a score of more than 180 runs.
However, Hardik Pandya saved the day for his side with a direct hit that helped him run out Tilak Verma. Tim David held one end and remained not out on 44 runs off 21 balls. Here’s what David said after the first innings:
“It was nice to hit a couple out of the middle but we’re still disappointed with how we finished after such a good start. We’re probably a little bit short. At that stage, we were looking to get as many as we can get. It’s my job to finish the innings as the recognized batter. It was tough for Ash to come and start to hit from ball one but I would have liked to hit a few more towards the end.”
Twitterati react to the excellent direct hit from Hardik Pandya
This was not the first time Hardik Pandya dismissed a batter with a direct hit. Here’s how fans on Twitter reacted to the dismissal:
Hardik Pandya Breaks Another Stump In IPL 2022, Runs Out Tilak Varma During GT vs MI Clash#GTvsMI #GTvMI #IPL2022 @gujarat_titans https://t.co/DPbjnVByU7
— LatestLY (@latestly) May 6, 2022
Le Hardik after doing everything viz batting, bowling, captain and direct hit runouts :#Cricket #CricketTwitter #GTvsMI #HardikPandya pic.twitter.com/GjCDu8BaMX
— bowled.io (@bowleddotio) May 6, 2022
What a brilliant run-out by Hardik Pandya. Tilak Verma gone run-out. Mumbai Indians lost their 5th wicket.
— SportsBash (@thesportsbash) May 6, 2022
#IPL2022 #GTvsMI #MIvsGT
— Express Sports (@IExpressSports) May 6, 2022
Direct throw by Hardik Pandya sends Tilak Varma back to the pavilion.
MI: 156/5 after 18.3 overs.
Live:https://t.co/XyS6ghVxVJ
Hardik Pandya🎯#HardikPandya #TilakVarma #GTvMI #GTvsMI #IPL #IPL2022 #Cricket #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/4ZyKpQyYmr
— Cricket Winner (@cricketwinner_) May 6, 2022
Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya & Umesh Yadav has best throw among current Indian fielders!!#IPL2022 #MIvsGT
— Abhimanyu (@abhimanyusrt) May 6, 2022
Hardik Pandya broke another stick #MIvsGT #GTvMI #IPL pic.twitter.com/f6i6hF4kKj
— CricBarath (@BarathTweetz) May 6, 2022
great direct hit by hardik Pandya 😮
— TVkachu #Ely200K 💙💛 I got exposd 📌 (@TVkachu_) May 6, 2022
'Hardik Pandya and Direct Hit's'
— V Sreenath (@IamVSreenath) May 6, 2022
The Love Story Continues…!😄😉#HardikPandya#IPL2022#GTvsMI
