He has been so effective with the ball that his batting has been overshadowed
Axar Patel scored a match-winning 64 off 38 balls. (Photo: PTI)
MUMBAI: Young Axar Patel has been so effective with the ball that his batting has been overshadowed. He has grabbed the limited chances that have come his way and the final ODI against Sri Lanka where he helped Virat Kohli complete the famous chase is an example of his all-round skills.
On Monday in the semifinals of the Deodhar Trophy against South Zone here at the Wankhede Stadiun, Axar got a rare opportunity to show his prowess with the willow. The 20-year-old responded with a chanceless 64 off only 38 balls to chase down South’s 314/7.
Batting as low as No.8 and still needing an improbable 141 from 103 balls, Axar infused life into the chase that had gone awry. He joined Suryakumar Yadav, who was dropped twice on 9 and 11.
The left-right combo worked well and making full use of Power Play, the two smashed 67 in the period. Yadav’s ambitious sweep off a full toss outside off brought his end, but Axar continued in same vein.
He first shared a 25-run stand in which his partner Dhaval Kulkarni’s contribution was none and then forged a 50-run ninth-wicket partnership with Shardul Thakur. The Mumbai pacer smashed 21 off Ashish Reddy’s over before Axar cleared the fence with a straight six to register the come-from-behind two-wicket win with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier, in-form South Zone put up a strong batting show after being asked to bat first. Openers Robin Uthappa and Mayank Agarwal put on 100 on the board before Uthappa was run-out on 47.
The strong start was further capitalized with both B. Aparajith and Manish Pandey scoring individual fifties. Agarwal top scored with 86 off 87 balls with ten fours. For West, Ambati Rayudu and Sheldon Jackson scored half centuries before the latter was dismissed after Sanju Samson grabbed a stunning one-handed catch.
( Source : dc )
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