Hardik Pandya's all-round heroics power India to 50-run win in first T20I against England
Southampton, Jul 8: Hardik Pandya reigned supreme with one of the finest all-round performances in recent times as India bossed England to emerge winners by 50 runs in the first T20 International here.
The swashbuckling all-rounder led India's aggressive batting display with a blistering 33-ball 51, propelling the visitors to 198 for eight after they opted to bat first.
Hardik then finished with excellent figures of 4/33, destroying England's batting with his full quota of four overs.
He became only the fourth player from full member nations to score a fifty and take four wickets in a T20I match.
England's innings ended at 148 in 19.3 overs.
This was Hardik's first T20I half-century, helping India score at a brisk pace in the middle overs after Rohit Sharma (24 off 14 balls), Deepak Hooda (33 0ff 17) and Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 19) set it up with their enterprising knocks.
Motoring along at 178 for five at the end of 17th over, India failed to finish their innings with a flourish on a belter of a pitch.
But that did not matter in the end, despite India spilling a few catches.
Defending 199, India had a dream start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar bowled skipper Jos Buttler with a beautiful inswinger, having tested Jason Roy with four outswingers.
Coming off his fine show with the bat, Hardik delivered with the ball in his very first over not once, but twice, removing Dawid Malan and Liam Livingstone to leave England in a disarray at 29 for three in the fifth over.
Hardik was not done yet as he ended Roy's painstaking stay in the middle when he had the opener caught at third man after a thick edge.
He capped off a memorable outing by taking the wicket of Sam Curran.
Earlier, seeking to make up for the lost time after missing the fifth Test against England owing to COVID-19, Rohit got India off to a brisk start.
First up, Rohit charged down the track to smash Sam Curran towards mid-off and while a diving Chris Jordan got a hand to it, the ball was hit too hard and all the fielder could do was deflect it to the fence.
Reece Topley strayed down the leg and Rohit whipped it off his pads for his second boundary.
That was followed by another four as the India captain played it through point, forcing his English counterpart Jos Buttler to introduce spin as early as the third over.
Unperturbed, Rohit went after Moeen Ali straightaway and collected two boundaries off him by employing the sweep shots on both occasions.
However, the experienced off-spinning all-rounder came back strongly to dismiss the India skipper just when he was beginning to look ominous, with a delivery that drifted away for Rohit to snick it to Buttler.
Coming off his maiden century against Ireland, Deepak Hooda started from where he left off in the previous game at Malahide, smashing Moeen high over long-on for two massive sixes.
That he opened his account with a maximum showed the kind of confidence that the man from Rohtak carried into Ageas Bowl.
And even though Moeen enjoyed his second breakthrough in the form of Ishan Kishan, who did not look to be in control of his pull shots, India continued with their attacking approach.
While Hooda started with a six, Suryakumar Yadav began his innings with a four, sweeping Moeen over backward square leg.
The man in form, Hooda continued to deal in boundaries, hitting Topley for three fours in the innings' sixth over as India galloped to 66 for two in the powerplay.
Surya dispatched Tymal Mills over fine leg for a six, and then, comfortably got two fours on the off-side off Matt Parkinson's innocuous leg-spinners.
Amid the flurry of boundaries, India lost Hooda -- a rather soft dismissal -- as he failed to connect to a Jordan delivery that was going down leg.
One big-hitter was replaced by another, as Hardik Pandya joined Suryakumar in the middle to continue the aggression.
In no time, Hardik started dealing in boundaries and even though Suryakumar got out, after getting a six and a four off Mills and Jordan respectively, there was no stopping India's charge.
Hardik kept finding the fence with ease and a missed stumping off Parkinson, when the batter was on 37, compounded England's woes.
But they did manage to dismiss Hardik after he had got to his fifty.
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No stubble burning now, why air pollution crisis in Delhi: Mann takes dig at BJP
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the BJP saying its leaders used to "defame" Punjab farmers over stubble burning and blame them for Delhi's poor air quality and questioned why is there pollution crisis in national capital despite no farm fires now.
Mann said that as soon as paddy harvest takes place, BJP leaders blame Punjab and its farmers for Delhi's poor air quality.
He said they used to claim that stubble burning by Punjab farmers causes Delhi's pollution.
Mann said at present, the Air Quality Index in major Punjab cities is between 70 and 130.
"At present, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500 and no smoke is coming from Punjab. But the situation in Delhi is worse. At least now they should agree that there is no role of Punjab for Delhi's poor air quality," Mann said in a video message.
Mann's remarks came on a day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the air pollution crisis in the national capital and acknowledged its impact on children's health.
Sirsa, however, asserted that it was the result of the policies pursued by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.
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Last month, the BJP had trashed the Punjab CM's previous claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".
Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last month said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).
Meanwhile, Mann in his video message said, due to severe floods which Punjab witnessed this year, paddy harvesting got delayed, "despite this, many Delhi ministers had already started blaming Punjab".
"I want to praise Punjab farmers, NGOs and efforts of the Punjab government have also paid off in controlling stubble burning this time. The cases of stubble burning in Punjab have reduced by 70-80 per cent and this has been acknowledged by the Central Government and the Union Agriculture Minister," Mann said.
The CM further said that after paddy harvest even the wheat crop has been sown and now, there is no incident of stubble burning.
He said BJP leaders used to claim that Punjab's smoke from stubble travels to Delhi.
"Now, there is no stubble burning, but Delhi is facing very poor air quality. This proves that earlier too Punjab's smoke had no role for Delhi's poor air quality. Only accusations were made by the BJP to defame Punjab. At least now the Centre should praise the farmers of Punjab," he said.
"Meanwhile, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500, flights are being cancelled, and breathing has become difficult," said Mann.
He asked both the BJP government in Delhi and the BJP led Centre to address Delhi's air pollution, saying citizens cannot even venture out for a walk due to air pollution.
He also asked the BJP that Punjab should not be dragged into this political battle, instead, Punjab's farmers should be appreciated, and the Delhi and Central governments should focus on addressing Delhi's air pollution.
Mann further said that farmers of Punjab are 'anndatas' (food providers) and they meet the country's food needs, they should not be defamed.
