The flamboyant Indian all-rounder, Hardik Pandya is back to being his match-winner self for team India, he scalped up the all-important wickets of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone after not backing down despite their aggressive approach in the ongoing series decider at Old Trafford in Manchester. Pandya’s efforts have placed India in a great position in the final stages of the innings.
Hardik Pandya churned out crucial wickets after another for the Men in Blue, rescuing them time and again from difficult situations. He started his first spell in the 10th over and dismissed Jason Roy with the short delivery as the ball went up the sky and Rishabh Pant made no mistake in taking the catch.
WATCH – Hampshire Wins The T20 Blast With A Thrilling Last Over Finish
Four overs later, Hardik Pandya dismissed the English skipper, Ben Stokes with a similar ploy. A streak of dot balls had the batsman itching, given he had accelerated his way to 27. Out of desperation, he came down the track to smash the ball hard, only to be deceived by a bouncer and offer a simple, looping catch back to Pandya.
However, it was really Pandya’s second spell that thrust him into the spotlight. Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone were looking good to score big runs. The latter had put away two bouncers from Pandya for sixes in the span of four deliveries and seemed to be dominating the battle. The following delivery saw Livingstone’s demise, as in his attempt to put away the bouncer he hit the ball straight down Ravindra Jadeja’s throat.
WATCH – Mohammed Siraj Dismisses Root And Bairstow In His First Over For Duck
Just three balls later, skipper Buttler batting on 60 fell for the same ploy. Another bouncer, another pull, followed by brilliant catch by Jadeja firmly sealed this battle of egos in Pandya’s favor. Four wickets off four short balls, Pandya already has his best-ever ODI bowling figures and still has overs remaining to go one step better.
Here is the video of Hardik Pandya dismissing Liam Livingstone:
https://twitter.com/Richard10719932/status/1548654959264436224?s=20&t=3hjIjQhRSYuwt16N7KHdWQ
Here is the video of Hardik Pandya dismissing Jos Buttler:
https://twitter.com/Richard10719932/status/1548655138424094720?s=20&t=KBjFcLqCdNSBcstYCMqG7g
Here is how the fans reacted:
Hardik Pandya vs Liam Livingstone battle in this series has been awesome.
Hardik's figures are absolutely incredible now. Excellent cricketer.#ENGvIND #INDvENG
— CricBlog ✍ (@cric_blog) July 17, 2022
Yesssssssssss! HARDIK PANDYA totally owns LIAM LIVINGSTONE 👊🇮🇳#CricketTwitter
— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) July 17, 2022
Hardik and Livingstone 🤣
Sixes and wicket, again.— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) July 17, 2022
What a catch by Jadeja, once again Hardik had the last laugh against Livingstone.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 17, 2022
Things you find in Hardik Pandya's Pocket #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/ScXteWLN5A
— Ankur Dhuri (@AnkurDhuri_45) July 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/mee23_1/status/1548654154280710144?s=20&t=9e8QQWA6EzR4wsr_fjdtxQ
