India's vice-captain in One-Day Internationals Hardik Pandya's return to international cricket after a hiatus of a few months didn't give him a big enough reason to rejoice. The star allrounder just bagged a solitary wicket in the three overs he bowled after conceding 17 runs and managed just five runs off his willow after his stay in the middle was cut short by a bizarre dismissal.
Chasing a mediocre total of 115 to win in 50 overs, the Indian batters struggled to get going and the team was reduced to 54 for the loss of two wickets at the end of 11 overs with both Shubman Gill (7) and Suryakumar Yadav (19) back in the hutch. With Ishan Kishan set at one end, the visitors needed someone to hold the other end and anchor the chase.
In walked Hardik and looked to get himself in by spending time at the crease. However, his stay between the 22 yards came to an abrupt end on the very first delivery of the 14th over. Yannic Cariah, the Windies leg-spinner flighted one to Ishan, who in return hammered it towards the former. The ball carried to Cariah, who made a desperate attempt to hold on to the opportunity but it went in vain as it popped out of his hand. However, to Cariah's and West Indian players' pleasant amusement, the ball deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker's end and dislodged the bails.
Watch Hardik's dismissal:
Hardik, who was backing away a bit made a futile attempt to stretch back and drag his bat in time but luck didn't smile on him and the third umpire found him short of his crease. The 29-year-old allrounder was forced to trudge back to the dressing room with India in a spot of bother at 70 for the loss of three wickets.
However, the target was never out of India's reach as they scaled it in the 23rd over of their innings and won the game with ease by a margin of five wickets.
