Indian all-rounder Hardik Pandya starred for his team in their five-wicket win over Pakistan in a last over thriller in Match 2 of the Asia Cup 2022 in Dubai. It was sweet revenge for the Indian team after a thrashing at the hands of Pakistan on the same venue last year in the T20 World Cup 2021.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first, Hardik Pandya (3/25) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (4/26) were outstanding with the ball as Pakistan lost five wickets to the short ball. Eventually the Babar Azam-led side finished with 147 in 19.5 overs.
In chase of a tricky target, India were not off to a great start and were in some trouble at 89/4 in 14.2 overs when Hardik joined Ravindra Jadeja in the middle. The all-rounders batted calculatively and carefully dragged the game to the final over needing only 7 to win off spinner Mohammad Nawaz.
Jadeja fell off the first ball, and Dinesh Karthik came in to take a single off his first delivery, getting Hardik back on strike. With 6 needed off 4 balls, the game was getting tight and it only got tighter when he was unable to find the gap on the third delivery which brought the equation to 6 in 3 balls.
Despite the mounting pressure, Hardik displayed stunning maturity and calmness as he nodded to non-striker Karthik suggesting 'don't worry, I have this' and he sure did as he smashed the next ball for a six to finish the game. He was named the Player-of-the-Match for his exceptional effort.
Watch Hardik's reaction after the dot ball here:
Watch the match-winning six by Hardik here:
