GT vs LSG: Hardik Pandya gets lucky break as bails don't fall upon hitting the stumps

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya was granted an extra life during Match 51 of IPL 2023 between Gujarat Titans and Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday, May 07 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Hardik walked in to bat at number three after Wriddhiman Saha got dismissed in the 13^th over after a magnificent innings of 81 off 43 balls.

Facing his second ball of the innings, Hardik tried to flick Avesh Khan and missed the ball and got struck on the pads. Being unaware of where the ball went, Hardik looked for a quick single. However, after hitting the pads the ball rolled onto the stumps and much to Hardik’s good fortune the bails remained unmoved. The lights of the stumps also lit up but the bails didn’t and the GT captain was also spotted smiling on his good luck.

Helpinghands@Helpingfriend35

Bails be like: "Pandyaa.. Pandyaraaj... Me giregaa nay saala" @hardikpandya7 @cricbuzz @IPL #HardikPandya #kungfupanda #IPL2O23 #IPLonJioCinema #CricbuzzLIVE #cricbuzz #GTvLSG #LSGvGT #TATAIPL2023 #TATAIPL

04:42 PM · May 07, 2023

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The Gujarat captain was finally dismissed in the 16th over as he got caught by his elder brother Krunal Pandya against Mohsin Khan. Earlier in the innings, Wriddhiman Saha got Gujarat off to a rollicking start with his scintillating knock of 81 off 43 balls smashing 10 fours and four sixes in his innings.

Courtesy of his innings, GT scored 78 runs in the powerplay which is the record-highest score in the powerplay for Gujarat. Saha and Gill added 142 runs for the first wicket off just 74 balls. Notably, it was the second-highest opening partnership of IPL 2023 after Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli’s 148-run stand.

Following Saha’s dismissal, Gill continued the attack on the opposition and went on to score 94* off 51 smashing two fours and seven gigantic sixes in his innings. He got involved in a 42-run stand off 23 balls for the second wicket with captain Hardik and further added 43 runs off 24 balls with David Miller (21* off 12 balls) for the third wicket. 

Courtesy of their partnerships, Gujarat posted a massive total of 227/2 in the first innings. Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow as he finished his four-over spell with figures of 1/34.