IPL 2021: 3 times Manish Pandey came up short at key moments

Manish Pandey is undoubtedly a vital cog in Sunrisers Hyderabad's (SRH) batting line-up and has produced some scintillating knocks in the IPL. However, the Karnataka batsman has occasionally also been guilty of throwing away his wicket at crucial junctures of the game, or being unable to take the team across the finish line.

On the run-scoring front, it has been a good start to IPL 2021 for Manish Pandey as he registered a fifty in the first game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. He then followed it up with a solid 38 in the second game against RCB on Wednesday.

The loss against RCB in the side's second game came despite Pandey and Warner steadying the ship with their 83-run partnership off just 69 deliveries. Warner was the first to go, holing out to Dan Christian at the deep after a well-made 54 off 37 balls.

After SRH's defeat, we look back at three scenarios where Manish Pandey getting out at crucial times changed the course of the game for his side.

IPL 2014: Manish Pandey falls for 94 in the final

Chasing 200 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Manish Pandey's counter-attacking 50-ball-94 was instrumental in KKR winning silverware that season. Coming in at No.3, he smoked seven fours and six sixes, and was all set to see the side through.

Manish Pandey's 50-ball-94 helped KKR win the IPL, but he threw his wicket away in the final moments

Considering the good nick Manish Pandey was in, Kolkata felt they were in a safe spot when he mistimed one straight into the hands of PBKS skipper George Bailey to turn the tide of the game.

It all boiled down to Piyush Chawla, who struck a four and a six to help KKR win with three balls to spare. Manish Pandey's effort may have overshadowed Wriddhiman Saha's brilliant hundred earlier in the evening, but his wicket had given PBKS a chance to get back in the game.

IPL 2018: Manish Pandey fails to get SRH across

Manish Pandey throwing away his wicket at crucial junctures put the side in a spot of bother

It was a tough chase of 219 but with the Chinnaswamy's small dimensions, the boundaries were always on. Manish Pandey blitzed an unbeaten 38-ball-62 but SRH fell short by 14 runs.

Coming in to bat at No.4, Pandey took the attack to RCB, but in the end his own slowing down of the game, along with the key crucial wicket of Kane Williamson (81 off 42) cost SRH the game.

The RCB bowlers put up a shoddy performance and Williamson capitalised on the poor lengths. He had Pandey for company and the duo took the team to the cusp of victory.

It was Mohammed Siraj who struck back to pick up the crucial wicket of Williamson in the final over with SRH requiring 20 runs to win. Manish Pandey had five balls to finish off his sparkling knock, but instead could only manage to pick out singles.

IPL 2021: Manish Pandey couldn't find the rope against KKR

On a slow Chennai track, SRH were in the hunt while chasing down KKR's 187 in their season opener. Jonny Bairstow had cut loose with 55 off 40 balls and Pandey made a great start to his IPL 2021 season by bringing up a stroke-filled fifty.

However, he was able to finish the game again for SRH despite being set. Vijay Shankar and Mohammad Nabi smacked a couple of boundaries between them, but it was all up to Pandey to do the heavy lifting.

Despite a few lusty blows by Abdul Samad at the other end, SRH eventually fell short by ten runs.