Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen was left stunned when Hardik Pandya was booed by the Ahmedabad crowd during the IPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans on Sunday. This is the first time Hardik has played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad since completing his sensational trade transfer from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and he was warmly received by the local crowd. Pietersen acknowledged the crowd’s boos on commentary and said it was rare for an Indian cricketer to be booed on home soil.
“I have never seen an Indian player booed as much as Hardik Pandya here in Ahmedabad. This is a rare occurrence,” Pietersen said in his commentary.
Fine death bowling by Gujarat Titans (GT), particularly pacers Umesh Yadav and Spencer Johnson, helped the side secure a thrilling six-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Sunday.
MI starts their Hardik Pandya captaincy with a loss.
Chasing 169 runs, Mumbai Indians got off to a poor start as Ishan Kishan edged wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who was dismissed by Azmatullah Omarzai for a four-ball duck. MI were 0/1 in 0.4 overs.
Rohit Sharma later developed a brief partnership with young batsman Naman Dhir, a 24-year-old with experience of four T20 innings. Rohit hit Umesh Yadav for two superb fours, while Naman hit Omarzai for three fours and a six.
Omarzai, however, had the last laugh, trapping Naman leg-before-wicket for 20 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six. MI were 30/2 in three overs. However, Rohit was unfazed as he continued to punish Umesh with a four and a six.
Dewald Brevis was the next to come up. With a beautiful boundary off Rashid Khan’s delivery, Rohit helped MI reach the 50-run mark in 5.4 overs.
Australian pacer Spencer Johnson delivered a costly over to end the first half of the innings after being hit for two fours by Rohit and a six by Brevis. At the end of 10 overs, MI were 88/2 with Rohit (40*) and Brevis (26*) unbeaten.
Brevis hit Mohit Sharma for a four to help MI reach the 100-run mark in 11.1 overs.
The 77-run partnership for the third wicket was ended by Sai Kishore, who trapped Rohit leg-before-wicket for 43 in 29 balls, with seven fours and a six. MI were 107/3 in 12.1 overs.
After 15 overs, MI were 126/3, with Brevis (46*) and Tilak Varma (15*) unbeaten.
Mohit turned things around for GT, dismissing Tim David for 11 in 10 balls after being caught by David Miller. MI were 142/5 in 18 overs and needed 27 runs in the last 12 balls.
In the next over, Spencer started with a six but got Tilak on the next ball, caught by Abhinav Manohar for 25 in 19 balls. MI were 148/6 and needed 21 off 10 balls.
Hardik Pandya and Gerald Coetzee were the new pair and they took the team to the last over with 19 runs to get into the final over, when Gerald was dismissed for one run by Spencer on the last ball of the over. MI were 150/7 in 19 overs.
Shams Mulani was next in the fold. Hardik started the next over with a six and four. However, he was dismissed for 11 in four balls by Umesh, caught by Tewatia. MI were 160/8 and needed nine runs in three balls. Umesh scored a hat-trick and got Piyush Chawla on the next ball for a duck. MI were 160/9 and needed nine in two balls.
MI ended their innings at 162/9 in 20 overs and lost by six runs.
Spencer (2/25), Mohit (2/32), Omarzai (2/27) and Umesh (2/31) were the best bowlers for GT.
(With ANI inputs)
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