India and South Africa locked horns with each other in the first game of the five-match ODI series at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The Indian batsmen did a pretty good job and crossed the 200-run mark with ease. However, there was one moment in the last over of the Indian inning which has become the highlight and the incident when the crowd booed Hardik Pandya.
The visiting captain, Temba Bavuma decided to bowl first after winning the toss and the Indian batsmen were up for the challenge. The openers Ishan Kishan and Ruturaj Gaikwad gave a solid start and the batter to follow came in with all guns blazing. Pandya, who made a comeback in the side looked in great touch, but one of his moves in the last over saw Hardik Pandya getting booed by the spectators.
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The incident took place in the last over of the Indian inning when Hardik Pandya was on song and Dinesh Karthik came in after Rishabh Pant got out on the first ball of the over. Anrich Nortje had got the wicket of Pant which brought Karthik on the crease. On the fourth delivery, Pandya hit a maximum which was followed by a yorker that was hit straight to deep mid-wicket. There was an easy single which was denied by the batter and as a result, the crowd booed Hardik Pandya.
Here is the video of the incident:
https://twitter.com/RohitKohliDhoni/status/1534917239740465155?s=20&t=iEt-gnRhYYk1LdZSgkO6RA
Dinesh Karthik is a very capable batter and he could be very dangerous in the death overs as a batsman. His smart batting was on display in the recently concluded IPL. Considering this fact, the crowd was sure that a single would be taken but Hardik Pandya denied it and kept the strike to himself on the penultimate delivery of the over.
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The tactic by Pandya was surely not liked by the crowd, however, team India reached 211 runs with the help of a half-century by Kishan and a quickfire 31 runs by Hardik Pandya. At the time of writing this article, South Africa is dominating and are most likely to win the match.
