Former England cricket team batter Kevin Pietersen was left stunned by Hardik Pandya getting booed by the Ahmedabad crowd during the IPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Titans on Sunday. This is the first time that Hardik was playing at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad since completing his sensational trade move from Gujarat Titans to Mumbai Indians and he received a heated welcome from the local crowd. Pietersen acknowledged the boos from the crowd on commentary and said that it is rare for an Indian cricketer to get booed on home soil.
“I have never seen any Indian player getting booed like they are booing Hardik Pandya here in Ahmedabad. This is a rare happening,” Pietersen said on commentary.
Fine death bowling by Gujarat Titans (GT), pacers Umesh Yadav and Spencer Johnson in particular, helped the side secure a thrilling six-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
MI start their Hardik Pandya captaincy era with a loss.
In the chase of 169 runs, Mumbai Indians was off to a bad start as Ishan Kishan feathered an edge to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, dismissed for a four-ball duck by Azmatullah Omarzai. MI was 0/1 in 0.4 overs.
Rohit Sharma later on developed a brief partnership with young batter Naman Dhir, a 24-year-old with an experience of four T20 innings. Rohit smacked Umesh Yadav for two cracking fours while Naman smashed Omarzai for three fours and a six.
However, Omarzai had the last laugh, trapping Naman leg-before-wicket for 20 in 10 balls, with three fours and a six. MI was 30/2 in three overs. Rohit, however, was unfazed as he continued punishing Umesh with a four and a six.
Dewald Brevis was next up on the crease. With a delightful boundary on Rashid Khan’s delivery, Rohit helped MI reach the 50-run mark in 5.4 overs.
Australia pacer Spencer Johnson delivered an expensive over to conclude the first half of the innings, being hit for two fours by Rohit and a six by Brevis. At the end of 10 overs, MI was 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 was 107/3 in 12.1 overs.
At the end of 15 overs, MI was 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 he was caught by David Miller. MI was 142/5 in 18 overs, needing 27 runs in the final 12 balls.
In the next over, Spencer started off by conceding a six, but got Tilak on the next ball, caught by Abhinav Manohar for 25 in 19 balls. MI was 148/6, needing 21 in 10 balls.
Hardik Pandya and Gerald Coetzee were the fresh pair and they took the team to the last over with 19 runs to get in the final over as Gerald was dismissed on the final ball of the over by Spencer for one run. MI was 150/7 in 19 overs.
Shams Mulani was next up on the crease. 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 was 160/8, needing nine runs in three balls. Umesh was on a hat-trick, getting Piyush Chawla on next ball for a duck. MI was 160/9, needing nine in two balls.
MI finished their innings at 162/9 in 20 overs, losing by six runs.
Spencer (2/25), Mohit (2/32), Omarzai (2/27) and Umesh (2/31) were the top bowlers for GT.
(With ANI inputs)
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