India 253, England 246. Such fine margins in a T20 game and the fact that it was a semifinal tells you a story. The kind of pressure the Indian team was under while defending the mammoth total. Yes, Jasprit Bumrah bowled superbly. Yes, Hardik Pandya bowled a fantastic penultimate over, conceding only 9 runs. But what Axar Patel did in the field today was unmatched. Though he won’t be mentioned much in the post-match analysis, Axar was indeed the silent hero for India in their semifinal win over England.
The man goes unnoticed every time and even today, he just did his job on the field and with the ball and must win the player of the match award inside the dressing room. He deserves. Let us break down what Axar Patel did today for India:
Axar took Phil Salt’s stunning catch
Axar Patel was a live wire in the field. He started in the second over itself by taking a fantastic running catch to dismiss Phil Salt for just five runs. It was an awayswinger from Pandya and Salt top-edged the delivery over the cover-point. Axar ran backwards, kept his eyes on the ball and took a brilliant catch with his fingers pointing upwards.
Axar’s stunner to send back Harry Brook
This catch deserves a mention. England captain Harry Brook was the man in-form and he was deceived by a slower delivery from Bumrah. Axar Patel was yet again in action. The ball went high but Axar kept his eyes on the ball again, just like he did in Salt’s case, and had to dive forward to complete a fantastic catch.
Axar’s stunning effort at the boundary to dismiss Will Jacks
At the end of 13.5 overs, Arshdeep Singh had bowled three wides on the trot and the equation had come down to 82 runs off 37 balls. Arshdeep delivered the full toss next and Jacks timed it superbly yet again. The ball was flying to the deep-point boundary but there was a certain Axar Patel in the way who dived to pluck the catch. Not only did he take the catch but he was well aware of the boundary cushions and he lobbed the ball to Shivam Dube who completed a brilliant catch. This was also the turning point in the game as had Jacks stayed for a couple more overs, England even might have got over the line with Bethell going crazy at the other end.
Don’t forget Tom Banton’s wicket!!
The way England batted in the run-chase, it was a boom or bust approach from them and Tom Banton had started the same way, smashing two sixes off Axar Patel at the start of the over. But the left-arm spinner from Gujarat, they call him Bapu, delivered a classy arm-ball and slowed it a tad to castle Banton. The wicket was certainly a massive in the context of the game and it kept India ahead as well.