Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], December 20 (ANI): Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya overtook legendary all-rounder Yuvraj Singh to have the most doubles of a half-century and at least a wicket during a T20I match in history for his nation.
The swashbuckling all-rounder added this impressive feather in his cap during the fifth and final T20I against South Africa on Friday. Having being given a cushion of extra runs by Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, Hardik torched the entire Proteas bowling attack all over the park alongside Tilak Varma, dealing with fours and sixes that oozed power, class and swagger.
Hardik scored 63 in just 25 balls, with five fours and five sixes each. His runs came at a strike rate of 252.00. While bowling, he did give away 41 runs in three overs, but got the prized wicket of Dewald Brevis, who was just taking off, cutting his knock short at 17-ball 31, with three fours and two sixes.
Now, Hardik has four instances scoring a half-century and taking at least a wicket in a T20I for India in a T20I match, one more than the Indian icon. Virat Kohli also finds a mention in this list, having emulated this feat against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup back in 2012 and against West Indies in the 2016 T20 WC. Next is all-rounder Shivam Dube, who has also achieved this feat twice.
Hardik, who marked his return to international cricket with this series, ended as the third-highest run-getter in the series, with 142 runs in three innings at an average of 71.00 and a strike rate of 186.84. He produced two half-centuries in the series, both coming in a winning effort. Besides this, he also took three wickets at an average of 38.00, with best figures of 1/16. But his economy rate of above 10 was a slight concern.
Coming to the match, Proteas won the toss and put India to field first. Openers Samson (37 in 22 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Abhishek (34 in 21 balls, with six fours and a six) gave India a fiery start with a 63-run stand in just 5.4 overs. After a brief stumble following dismissals of Samson and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (5), Tilak (73 in 42 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Hardik put on a 105-run stand for the fourth wicket, taking India to 231/5 in 20 overs. Corbin Bosch (2/44) was the pick of the bowlers for SA.
During the run-chase of 232 runs, SA did put up a 69-run opening stand, which was mainly due to the efforts of opener Quinton de Kock (65 in 35 balls, with nine fours and three sixes), who continued his love affair with Indian bowling. Reeza Hendricks (13 in 12 balls, with a four) was the first victim of evening’s leading wicket-taker, Varun Chakravarthy (4/53). Brevis did give India a scare with his knock, sticking around for another half-century stand with QDK to take SA to 120 in the 11th over. However, following his dismissal, Proteas lost wickets regularly and never quite managed to make a comeback, falling short by 30 runs and restricted to 201/8 in 20 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah (2/17) was also impressive in his four-over quota, while Arshdeep also took a wicket.
Pandya took home the ‘Player of the Match’ award as India sealed the series 3-1, while Varun got the ‘Player of the Series’ award for taking 10 wickets at an average of 11.20 and an economy rate of 7.46. (ANI)
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