Axar Patel shines on his County debut for Durham

While it took some time for the Indian batsmen to get their act together in the ongoing Test series in England, all-rounder Axar Patel delivered right at the beginning of his county stint. He scored an unbeaten 95 while batting at No. 7 on his county debut for Durham and remained deprived of a century as he ran out of partners. He played with a strike-rate of almost 100 on a pitch in Cardiff which was by no means an easier one to bat.

The left-hander came out to bat when his team was in trouble at 144 for 5 and played with the lower order to take them to a respectable total of 295, gaining a 141-run lead. Patel smashed 12 fours and 2 sixes during his stay in the middle and his 61-run partnership with wicket-keeper Stuart Poynter (29) for the seventh wicket was key in putting Durham at an advantage.

Picked three wickets with the ball

Patel, a left-arm spinner, took 2 wickets for only 10 runs in the first innings to help his team restrict opponents Glamorgan to a meagre total of 154 runs. In the second innings too, they were struggling at 79/7 and Axar Patel has scalped a wicket after bowling 7 overs. It seems that he has taken a liking to County cricket and would be looking to make a mark in the remaining matches as well.

With only 3 wickets left, Durham will look to seal the game early on the third day and register an innings victory and Patel is a likely candidate for the Man of the Match for his all-round contribution.

Impressive first-class average

Patel has played 38 ODIs and 11 T20 Internationals for India since 2014 but hasn’t received a Test call yet. He has 45 wickets in the 50-over and nine in the shortest format. He has also produced decent performance in the Indian Premier League. Prior to the game against Glamorgan, the 24-year-old averaged nearly 50 in the first-class format with one hundred and 10 fifties.

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