Continuing his dream run, Hardik Pandya scored his maiden T20I half-century against England at The Rose Bowl, Southampton on Thursday. The Indian all-rounder followed his first-innings show with a brilliant display with the ball. Chasing 199 runs, Jos Buttler and co could make 148. 

India won the match by 50 runs. 

After being put to bat first, Pandya made a blistering 33-ball 51, which is his highest score in T20Is. The 28-year-old came in to bat when India were cruising at 89/3 in the ninth over. He joined Suryakumar Yadav in the middle to continue the aggression.

Also read: Watch: Bhuvneshwar Kumar cleans in-form Buttler with an ‘absolute peach’

In no time, the Gujarat Titans skipper 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.

Pandya 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 get him after he had got to his fifty.

Rohit Sharma (24 off 14 balls), Deepak Hooda (33 0ff 17) and Suryakumar Yadav (39 off 19) made significant contributions. 

Also Read: ‘Go and sit on a beach’: Michael Vaughan believes a sabbatical will help Virat Kohli

In the second innings, Hardik Pandya was introduced in the fifth over. Dawid Malan hit the Indian all-rounder for a boundary on the first ball. However, the bowler hit back with a 137kph delivery, offering no room, to dismiss the England batter on the very next ball. 

Also Read: MS Dhoni birthday: Here are some other roles he plays off the field

On the last delivery of the same over, Pandya got rid of the hard-hitting Liam Livingstone, who tried scooping a short of length ball and was caught by wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik. In the seventh over, Hardik Pandya managed to dismiss opener Jason Roy and his next victim was Sam Curran. 

In his four-over spell, Pandya took four wickets for 33 runs at an economy rate of 8.20. With his performance, the all-rounder became the first Indian to score 50+ runs and take 4+ wickets in a T20I match.