“Take a bow, Hardik!”- Twitter reacts as India set a decent target against England courtesy of Hardik Pandya’s cameo and Virat Kohli’s knock


“Take a bow, Hardik!”- Twitter reacts as India set a decent target against England courtesy of Hardik Pandya’s cameo and Virat Kohli’s knock

Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya

In the all-important semi-final clash between India and England, the latter posted a decent total of 168/6 courtesy of Virat Kohli’s half-century and Hardik Pandya’s cameo on Thursday [November 10] at the Adelaide Oval. 

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English skipper Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bowl first. Despite KL Rahul’s smashing a four off the first ball of the innings, his innings was short-lived when Chris Woakes, in the second over, drew the first ball when Rahul tried to cut the length ball, but the outside-edge gave an easy catch to the keeper Buttler behind the stumps. Rahul only scored five runs off five balls with a four.

Though Rohit Sharma played slow in the start, he did accelerate but soon Chris Jordan, who is also playing his first match, sent the Indian skipper back on the ninth over. Jordan bowled on the length, and Rohit swung his bat to whip it across the boundary but did not get the desired length. Sam Curran at the deep mid-wicket dived forward and grabbed a brilliant catch. 

It was expected of Suryakumar Yadav to form a partnership with Kohli and gain control of the momentum, but Surya’s inning was short-lived. He started slow but tried to open his arms to smash the ball toward the boundary rope, but Adil Rashid gave a huge sigh of relief by showing this big fish a way back to the pavilion. 

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This happened on the second ball of the 12th innings. Buttler handed the ball to Rashid. Surya stepped out and looked to smack it over the covers but ended up slicing it toward the sweeper cover. Phil Salt would not miss it.

But Surya’s wicket invited Hardik Pandya to the ground. He soon stitched a 50-run partnership with Kohli, with both of them playing careful innings before going for huge runs after 17 overs.

Kohli completed his 37th half-century off 39 balls on the fifth ball of the 18th over. He departed, however, on the next ball from Jordan. It was a wide yorker from Jordan, and Kohli wished to whip it, but an outside edge sent the ball to the short third man. Rashid was stationed there, and he did no mistake.

Kohli departed after scoring 50 runs off 40 balls with a four and a six at a strike rate of 125. Following Kohli’s departure, Pandya played cameo roles in the last overs. Pandya’s batting shifted the momentum; he also completed his half-century off 29 balls.

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Check how Twitter reacted to Hardik Pandya and Virat Kohli’s innings

Hardik Pandya
Virat Kohli and Hardik Pandya

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