The Karnataka stalwart and Tigers skipper delivered one of the finest six-saving acts near the boundary to help Tigers come out triumphant.
Hubli Tigers came out triumphant in a nail-bitting finish for the final of the Maharaja Trophy KSCA T20 tournament on Tuesday (August 29) thanks to one of the most incredible acts of fielding seen in recent times from their veteran batter and skipper Manish Pandey.
The Karnataka stalwart unleashed among the finest six-savers ever near the boundary at the Chinnaswamy Stadium against Mysore Warriors in the summit clash and helped the Tigers edge out their opposition in the high-scoring thriller by just 8 runs.
With 11 runs required off the last 4 balls, left-hander Jagadeesha Suchith of the Warriors absolutely smashed a full-pitcher from Tigers medium pacer Manvanth Kumar for what looked like a certain six at the long-off region.
But out of nowhere, Manish Pandey put in an eye-catching dive and managed to keep the ball inside for one run. He timed his jump in the air to perfection and gave the fans a breathtaking sight of fielding the ball with both his feet in the air.
The incident was recorded in a clip shared with fans by the tournament’s digital broadcasters ‘Fancode’. An attempted yorker from Kumar from around-the-wicket went horribly wrong as he ended up dishing one perfectly within Suchith’s arc.
The left-hander unleashed his downswing and hammered this ball towards long-off. Placed there, Manish Pandey held his calm and lifted both his feet in the air to tap the ball back inside the playing arena. It became the moment of the match for the fans watching the KSCA final.
Saved on the boundary: Turning tweets into memories, ft. Manish Pandey! 🏏✨
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.#CricketTwitter #KSCA @im_manishpandey pic.twitter.com/I8Ks6C6kyR— FanCode (@FanCode) August 29, 2023
A truly impactful act, Manish’s six-saver took the sting out of Warriors’ chase as he reduced Suchith’s beautifully timed hit to a single, inspiring confidence in Kumar and rest of his troops to bring their ‘A’ game for the rest of the balls.
As it panned out, the Tigers managed to keep the opposition down to just one more run off the next three deliveries, including Suchith’s prized wicket. The Warriors finished 195/8, eight short in their effort to gun down the daunting target of 204 set-up by Manish & company.
