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Axar Patel Stars On County Debut, Scores An Unbeaten 95 For Durham — Watch

Axar Patel would have got to his century of County debut had he got more support from the other end

Majority of Indian batsmen have struggled to score in England barring the ongoing third Test at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. On the other hand, all-rounder Axar Patel has made a successful County debut for Durham. Patel batted with the lower order and tailenders to score an unbeaten knock of 95 runs from 99 deliveries taking Durham to a respectable score on a tough Cardiff pitch.

In reply to Glamorgan’s below par score of 154 in the first innings, Durham top order batsmen got stars but could not convert them into big scores barring opener Alex Lees (69 runs from 98 balls). After the middle order collapse, Patel led the counter-attack with wicketkeeper-batsman Stuart Poynter.

Patel batted with the tailenders scoring most of his runs in boundaries. His innings had 12 fours and 2 sixes and the strike rate was an impressive 95.96. The left-handed batsman could have scored a century on debut but ran out of partners on the other end.

In the first innings, the left-arm spinner scalped two wickets in just 19 balls. His century may have just won the match for Durham as Glamorgan’s batting lineup faltered again and were reduced to 79 for 7 wickets at Day 2, Stumps. The 24-year-old took another wicket in the second innings which might be used for mopping up the tail on Day 3 as well. With 3 wickets in hand, Glamorgan still trail by 62 runs.

Here are a few highlights of his performance in County Championship Division Two:

Two wickets in first innings:

His gritty innings:

Another wicket in second innings:

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With three spinners in the Indian Test side already, Patel was not even considered as one of the contenders before the squad announcement. Many would not know but Patel has an average of 53.79 in 25 First-Class matches he has played including 1 century and 11 half-centuries. He can be another addition to India’s list of Test all-rounders similar to Ravichandran Ashwin.

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