Axar Patel shines on his County debut for Durham

He will be looking to contribute more to his team in the upcoming matches.

By Shubham Ghosh

Updated - 21 Aug 2018, 14:27 IST

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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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