Watch: Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya smashed Lucknow Super Giants leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi for two sixes and a four in the 18th over, helping his side reach 135-6.
GT won the toss and opted to bat first. However, they were rocked early with Shubman Gill being dismissed for a duck by Krunal Pandya. Wriddhiman Saha scored 47 off 37 balls but could not carry on to a half-century. Hardik too struggled at the start of his innings and could not get into a rhythm. After 17 overs, GT had only scored 102-4, with Hardik batting on 40 off 41 balls.
When Bishnoi was brought on to bowl his final over, though, Hardik pounced. The third ball of the over was pitched short, and the GT skipper rocked onto the back foot, hammering it between deep mid wicket and deep square leg for four. Bishnoi bowled another short delivery on the fourth ball of the over and this time, was thumped over the deep mid wicket fence.
The fifth ball of the over was on a back of a length on middle and leg stump. Hardik gave himself just enough room and slapped it over the long on fence for another maximum. Hardik registered his ninth fifty in the IPL against LSG but took 44 balls in the process, making this his slowest half-century in the competition. The rest of the GT batters, though, struggled and it was probably Hardik’s knock that allowed them to get up to 135-6 against LSG in Lucknow.
Watch Hardik Pandya hitting Bishnoi for two sixes here:
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