IPL 2021: Hardik Pandya’s direct-hits turn things around for Mumbai Indians; all-rounder speaks on his fielding

IPL 2021: Hardik Pandya’s direct-hits turn things around for Mumbai Indians; all-rounder speaks on his fielding

Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) with a superb bowling performance that saw them defend a target of 151 by 13 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was another trademark defence of a low total by MI as they weathered a storm by Jonny Bairstow early on before applying the pressure and hence, the choke to the Orange Army’s middle-order that looked far from convincing.

One of the key architects of the defence apart from the bowlers was Hardik Pandya who came up clutch in two important instances. Firstly, he effected a direct-hit to remove the well-set David Warner to turn the game in MI’s favour before returning with a similar effort to run-out Abdul Samad who was one of SRH’s last hopes along with Vijay Shankar to them past MI’s target on the night.

Hardik Pandya speaks about his run-outs

Mumbai Indians
Hardik Pandya celebrates the run-out of Abdul Samad

Hardik Pandya spoke to the broadcasters after the match about his run-outs and said, “I just make sure that the ball is in my hand and then target the stumps. To be honest, the run-out of Warner, I wasn’t expecting him to be that far, I just wanted to take aim and hit, and only then I realized that he was well short.”

Speaking about the win, Hardik said, “We have a lot of character as a team, they got to a great start, but our bowlers pulled them back nicely, bowled good line and lengths, made sure that the pressure was built. Rahul Chahar, Krunal and all the others – we bowled as a unit, held the nerves and used all the opportunities that came our way. We have plenty of experience (having played long as a team), lots of feedback from the players and it helps having a captain who makes the most of it.”

MI face Delhi Capitals next on the 20th of April.

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