Watch: Hardik Pandya takes a one-handed blinder in his follow-through to dismiss Devon Conway, leaving the batter in disbelief
The second game between India and New Zealand is underway at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur. After winning the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma chose to bowl first. Both teams remained unchanged, with the same team that played in the first game.
India had a dream start with their opening bowlers and demolished the batting attack of the visitors. New Zealand lost their first five wickets for just 15 runs in 10.3 overs. Mohammed Shami took two wickets while Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur, and Hardik Pandya picked up one wicket each.
Shami dismissed opener Finn Allen for a duck in the very first over. None of the top five batters for the visitors reached the 10-run mark. The best of the five wickets, however, came when Hardik dismissed Devon Conway and took a superb catch in his follow-through.
The video of that catch has gone viral on social media, and fans are also loving it. It happened in the 10th over of the inning. On the fourth ball, Hardik bowled a full delivery, and Conway tried to play a straight drive. He actually controlled it well, but it was became a low-catch as Hardik dived to his left and plugged a one-handed stunning catch.
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛! 😎
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 21, 2023
Talk about a stunning grab! 🙌 🙌@hardikpandya7 took a BEAUT of a catch on his own bowling 🔽 #TeamIndia | #INDvNZ | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/saJB6FcurA
After the catch, the all-rounder didn't celebrate it much, as he walked casually as if nothing had happened. But the other Indian players were surprised to see the brilliant effort from Hardik and gave him a high-five. Even the commentators were in awe and praised the brilliant fielding effort.
New Zealand lost their sixth wicket when Shami dismissed the dangerous Michael Bracewell, who scored a 57-ball century in the first game, for 22 runs in the 19th over. New Zealand have lost their six wickets, and Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner are at the crease. It will be interesting to see how much they can add from here.