T20 WC semi-final: Axar Patel floors England with match-winning 3/23
Axar Patel was adjudged the Player of the Match award for his brilliant 3/23 versus England in a crucial ICC T20 World Cup 2024 semi-final clash at Providence Stadium, Guyana. Chasing a score of 172, England were off to a brisk start with Jos Buttler leading the way. Axar was introduced in the 4th over and he struck instantly. Here's more.
Axar's numbers in T20 cricket
Axar managed 3/23 from his four overs. Playing his 12th T20 World Cup match, the left-arm spinner owns 11 wickets at 21.72. The all-rounder now owns 57 T20I wickets for India at 22.98 (ER: 7.23). As per ESPNcricinfo, overall in T20s, Axar has bagged 219 wickets from 255 matches at 27.63. His economy rate is 7.
The wicket was stopping and keeping low, says Axar
Picking up the PoTM award, Axar said, "I have bowled in the powerplay in the past, so I had to bowl in the powerplay, that was the plan. The wicket was stopping and keeping low, so tried to bowl in the right areas. The wicket was slow, so I tried to bowl slower in this match, it worked for me."
Buttler, Bairstow and Moeen fall prey
Buttler (23) was moving along well before Axar came in and dismissed him first ball. A length delivery on off-stump, gripped on the surface and turned. Buttler went for a reverse-sweep and the ball lobbed up with Rishabh Pant taking the catch. The first ball of his second over saw Jonny Bairstow depart for a duck. Moeen Ali was his next scalp (3rd over).
