Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya proved their doubters wrong with a terrific, fighting partnership against Pakistan in the IND vs PAK encounter in Group A Asia Cup 2023 on Saturday at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy.
Ishan Kishan recorded his 4th consecutive ODI half-century, and his 7th in 17 ODI innings, while Hardik Pandya notched up his 11th ODI fifty. Both the batters, however, fell just short of their respective centuries – Kishan by 18 runs and Hardik by 13 runs.
India were bowled out for 266 runs with the Pakistani pace trio sharing all 10 wickets – Shaheen Afridi took 4 wickets, Haris Rauf took 3 wickets and Naseem Shah also snapped a three-fer to bundle India out for what could be considered a par total.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first, Shaheen Afridi made early inroads with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Haris Rauf got into the act and dismissed Shreyas Iyer and Shubman Gill, leaving India reeling at 66-4.
Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan, who was playing out of his usual opening position and batted at number 5 today, produced a brilliant fighting partnership of 138 runs in 141 balls. Kishan smashed 9 fours and 2 sixes in his knock of 82 runs in 81 balls; Pandya hit 7 fours and one six in his innings of 87 runs in 90 balls.
Fans hailed the duo for their superb knocks.
Here are some of the best tweets on Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan:
India bowled out for 266…!!
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya were the stars for India after an early collapse – both put on a sensational partnership.
It's time for the bowlers to defend this score. pic.twitter.com/SoRVxmRik1
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 2, 2023
SENSATIONAL HARDIK PANDYA…!!
Fifty in 62 balls with 3 fours – came in when India were struggling at 66/4, what a partnership between him and Kishan. Hardik has stepped up well! pic.twitter.com/f2EDxDpEif
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 2, 2023
Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya saved us from humiliation 🥹 pic.twitter.com/Iu4GNTkugO
— Shivani (@meme_ki_diwani) September 2, 2023
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan(w), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
Pakistan (Playing XI): Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Babar Azam(c), Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf
