Hardik Pandya cherishes his memorable partnership alongside Virat Kohli as the duo register a win to be remembered for the ages.
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Team India have managed to pull out a miracle out of thin air at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) today, as they defeat Pakistan by 4 wickets on the final delivery, of their first T20 World Cup 2022 match against Pakistan, which turned out to be a cliffhanger of the highest order.
En route the target of 160 runs, team India were yet again rattled by Pakistani pacers upfront, on a pitch that still provided enough seam movement and bounce into the second innings.
With Rohit Sharma (4 off 7), KL Rahul (4 off 8), and Suryakumar Yadav (15 off 10) falling cheaply, and with Axar Patel (2 off 3) next getting run-out, things seemed like having already gone South, with the scorecard reading 31/4 at one point, and the Pakistan pacers breathing fire.
However, the duo of Virat Kohli (82* off 53) and Hardik Pandya (40 off 37) stitched together a partnership worth remembering for the ages, comprising 113 runs off 78 deliveries for the fifth wicket, which also happened to be the highest-ever stand for any wicket for India against Pakistan in T20Is.
The partnership carried on till the first delivery of the 20th Over, when Pandya unfortunately got dismissed, with 16 required off the final 6 deliveries.
Hardik Pandya cherishes his memorable partnership alongside Virat Kohli at MCG
However, Kohli, who previously had a 100% success rate to pull of a victory whenever he has stayed Not Out during run-chases for India in T20Is, was in no mood to not let this surreal record of his intact, as he smashed a Six off a No-Ball bowled by Mohammad Nawaz, to bring the equation down to 6 runs required off the final 3 balls.
Courtesy of a bit of luck, and a couple of Wides bowled by Nawaz during the Over, India managed to open their account in the T20 World Cup 2022.
Post the win, an ecstatic Hardik Pandya, took to his social media handle, to express his ‘loss of words’ after everything that transpired today at the MCG, while also terming today’s humdinger of an India-Pakistan contest as one of the best he’s been part of.
Pandya also exclaimed that he would not have preferred any other batting partner but Kohli at the other end, during the nearly improbable run-chase on the Sunday night at Melbourne.
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