VIDEO | Manish Pandey saves KL Rahul's blushes after Windies' batters run towards one end
Cricket is a game of wits and whoever can keep it until the very end, usually ends up winning the battle. Today, after KL Rahul made a mess of a simple throw, with Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer at one end, Manish Pandey was alert enough to take the stumps down to give the Windies a jolt.
When Manish Pandey was selected in the team ahead of Shreyas Iyer, it created a stir on Twitter and everyone criticized the decision. However, most of them forgot that Pandey’s importance in the team is not only about his batting rather his presence on the field and the ability to pull off stunners out of nowhere. While he showcased his genius once again, the moment of the day would be remembered more because of the kindergarten mess up by the duo of Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer, and also, KL Rahul.
The first ball of Khaleel’s second over in the evening was tucked straight to mid-wicket by Hope, where Rahul was stationed. However, the ball fell short of Rahul and he had a chance to throw the ball to Dinesh Karthik to end Hope’s stay in the middle as both the batsmen found themselves running towards the non-striker’s end. There was never a run there, but once Hope started running, Hetmyer responded before turning his back on his partner.
While Rahul had all the time in the world to throw it to Karthik for a simple run-out, he threw it well over DK's head who slipped as he jumped. However, Pandey, who was fielding at backward point, had come to the slip position by then to back up for Karthik and as the ball moved over DK’s head, he collected the ball instantly to take the stumps down.
On checking the replay, the third umpire found out that Hope was well short of the crease and ruled him out.