4 6 6 6 : Hardik Pandya Hits Hat-Trick of Sixes : Impresses MS Dhoni : IND v AUS

India vs Australia, 1st ODI (D/N), Chennai, Sep 17 2017, Australia tour of India

Match Result: India won by 26 runs (D/L method)

Man of the Match: Hardik Pandya [ 83(66) &  2/28 ]

Match Report: India batted first and struggled. Top order did not deliver at all. King Kohli fell out on a duck. So did Manish Pandey. The top 4 batsmen scored just 33 runs among them. Australia were clearly the favorites at that situation. At that point, it felt like India might fall short of 200.But then came the lower middle order. And boy did they impress. Hardik Pandya send Adam Zampa for three consecutive sixes, which the experts believe was the “Kamaal Ka” moment of the match.

After Hardik Pandya and thala MS Dhoni heroics wowed the Chennai crowd and revived India to 281 for 7, rain cut down Australia’s chase to 164 in 21 overs. Bumrah sent Cartwright’s off stump flying in his second over, then took an excellent catch to dismiss Smith. Warner’s stay on the crease was brief as did Maxwell and Faulkner, but Australia were clueless against India’s wristspinners. Kuldeep and Chahal claimed combined figures of 9-0-63-5. Pandya, meanwhile, followed his career-best 83 with two crucial wickets of Smith and Head, and also introduced his new learned variation – knucle ball – to the world. What a day for him!

Steven Smith | Australia captain: “Yeah, obviously we got ourselves into a good position. We had them at 5 for 87 and let things off a bit. MS and Hardik had a great, match-winning partnership. The new ball was stopping and some skidded on. We lost too many wickets in the middle. You can’t control the weather. No complaints, we weren’t good enough and we were outplayed by India. I thought Cummins and Coulter-Nile bowled very well in the new ball and hopefully they can back it up in a couple of days’ time. It was a tough wicket with the new ball, and then we went away from our plans too early.”

Virat Kohli | India captain: “We spoke at the toss that we wanted to put on a big score. We lost wickets but MS and Kedar played well. Hardik then (played well too), MS then finished it off like he does. Today was an example, Sri Lanka was the example of how good the middle and lower order can be. The bowlers were outstanding as well. It is a matter of giving players confidence.

Hardik believes in himself, and his innings was the game-changer. He possesses all three skills equally and we are lucky to have him. Chahal is very brave and doesn’t say no to any situation. Bhuvi and Bumrah very clinical and our bank bowlers. After the rain, we felt this was our best T20 attack. We can’t have a more perfect combination.”

Hardik Pandya | Man of the Match: “It was a good day for me. A couple of catches could have helped. I don’t think anything has changed. I am the same Hardik I was a year back. Maybe people’s thinking was changed. To be honest, when Mahi bhai was batting with me, we knew what Zampa was going to bowl. I am glad I am doing with the bat and bowl.”

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