India all-rounder Hardik Pandya was mercilessly trolled on social media after his viral message to Arshdeep Singh, caught on stump mic, during their partnership in the second T20I match of the series against South Africa backfired. While Hardik expected to make the most of the final 10 balls, to help India post a challenging total, he managed to score just six runs after seven dot balls.
Bouncing back from the loss in Durban in the series opener earlier last week, South Africa put on an excellent bowling performance on Sunday at St George’s Park in Gqeberha to restrict the reigning T20 World Champions to a mediocre total.
After a top-order collapse, the middle-order batters failed to score substantially as Hardik took the onus to get India past the 100-run mark and help the visitors post a decent target. But South Africa were on point with their bowling, on a track that was rather difficult to bat on, as Hardik was kept quiet, with the latter managing a sluggish 39 off 45.
En route to his knock, Hardik, who had smashed two fours and a six against Marco Jansen in the 18th over, seemed rather frustrated after Arshdeep filed to put him on strike in the first ball of the penultimate over. And after the latter did on the second ball with a single, Hardik was caught on the stump mic saying, “Enjoy from the other end now.”
However, over the remaining 10 balls in the innings, seven were dot balls as Gerald Coetzee and Jansen put pressure on the India batter, who eventually scored a boundary in the final ball to help India finish on 124 for six.
South Africa level series
Tristan Stubbs scored a patient 47 not out off 41 balls as South Africa beat India by three wickets on Sunday to level the four-match series 1-1. Stubbs was ably assisted by Coetzee, who smashed an unbeaten 19 off nine balls, as their 42-run stand in 20 balls, for the eighth wicket, took the Proteas home.
Varun Chakravarthy picked up a stellar five wickets for 17 runs in four overs, but his spell went in vain as South Africa finished with 128-7 in 19 overs.
