LSG vs GT: Hardik Pandya registers his ninth IPL fifty
What's the story
Hardik Pandya played a true captain's knock to register his ninth Indian Premier League (IPL) fifty against the Lucknow Super Giants.
The GT skipper slammed a 50-ball 66 and allowed the visitors to reach a respectable total of 135/6 on Lucknow's sluggish wicket.
He has had a slow start to the IPL 2023 season and this was his first fifty.
We decode his stats.
Knock
A captain's knock from Hardik
Hardik came to the crease early after Shubman Gill's dismissal in the second over.
He negotiated the bowlers well and stitched a 68-run partnership with Wriddhiman Saha (47).
After the latter's departure, he kept fighting alone. He kept on consolidating and unleashed in the slog overs.
His 50-ball 66 was laced with two fours and four maximums.
He was dismissed by Marcus Stoinis.
Stats
A look at his IPL numbers
Playing his 112th match in the IPL, Hardik has raced to 2,078 at an average of 29.68. He owns a strike rate of 145.82.
In IPL 2023, Pandya has 115 runs from five games at 23.00.
Notably, he was the fourth-highest run-scorer in IPL 2022 as he smoked 487 runs in 15 matches at 44.27. He had accumulated four fifties.
Information
Hardik crosses the 600-run mark for GT in the IPL
GT's main man, who guided them to the title in their inaugural IPL has raced to 602 runs for the franchise in only 20 IPL appearances. How owns an average of 37.62 and has registered five fifties. He is the second-highest run-scorer for the franchise.
Summary
How did the GT innings pan out?
GT suffered a setback early when Gill departed. Hardik and Saha added 68 runs.
But once the latter was dismissed, they were in trouble again. Abhinav Manohar and Vijay Shankar failed to make an impact as Hardik kept fighting. He stitched a 40-run stand with David Miller taking the score beyond the 130-run mark.
Krunal Pandya and Stoinis claimed two wickets apiece.