Sports

Akshar’s aggressive innings took Delhi Capitals to a competitive score

All-rounder Akshar Patel’s 22-ball 36 helped Delhi Capitals score 162 for eight in the Indian Premier League T20 match, batting first against Gujarat Titans here on Tuesday. Captain David Warner scored 37 off 32 balls and Sarfaraz Khan scored 30 off 34 balls for Delhi but both the batsmen struggled and failed to increase the run rate. Akshar hit two fours and three sixes in his innings.

He was well supported by Abhishek Porel. The 20-year-old Porel impressed by scoring 20 runs in 11 balls with the help of two sixes. Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan took three wickets each for Gujarat. Shami however proved costly. He scored 41 runs in four overs while Rashid spent 31 runs in the same overs. Alzarri Joseph took two wickets for 29 runs in four overs. Joseph troubled the Delhi batsmen a lot with his bouncer balls. Shami’s first ball came out touching the wicket but the bails did not fall and Warner was saved from being dismissed.

11 runs came from this over, out of which only four runs came off the bat. Shami got the benefit of excellent bowling in the third over of the innings. He took advantage of the weakness of Prithvi Shaw (seven runs) on the shot ball, who returned to the pavilion by giving a simple catch to Alzarri Joseph at mid-on. Mitchell Marsh (four runs), running in great rhythm, hit the first ball of the fifth over for a four, but Shami made a brilliant comeback by bowling him on the next ball. Warner, still struggling, hit a confident four off the last ball of the over.

He also hit a four against Hardik Pandya in the last over of the powerplay which helped the team score 52 for two in the powerplay, contributing 14 extra runs. Warner hit two fours against Joseph in the seventh over but the bowler completed the revenge by bowling him in the ninth over of the innings. Joseph surprised Riley Rosso with his pace off the next ball. The ball took the outside edge of his bat and Rahul Tewatia dived forward to take a brilliant catch at point.

However, he missed out on completing the hat-trick. The last ball of the over hit Sarfaraz on the head and he continued to play after the team doctor examined him for a concussion. 20-year-old Abhishek Porel, playing his debut match, showed his intentions by hitting a six in the 11th over against Joseph. In the 12th over, Sarfaraz was given a lifeline by Josh Little off the bowling of left-arm fast bowler Yash Dayal. On the last ball of the same over, Porel completed the team’s century by hitting another six.

However, he failed to read Rashid Khan’s spin and was bowled after scoring 20 runs in 11 balls. The team’s vice-captain Akshar Patel opened the account with fours as soon as he stepped on the crease. While Sarfaraz was struggling to play big shots from one end, Akshar from the other end tried to maintain the team’s run-rate by hitting a four against Joseph and a six against Rashid Khan. Sarfaraz hit Rashid’s first ball for a four in the 17th over but was caught by Little in an attempt to play another big shot. The team’s hopes of a competitive score now rested on Akshar and the batsman kept it going by hitting a six against Little.

Aman Hakim Khan (8 runs) hit a six against Rashid but returned to the pavilion by catching Pandya on the next ball. Akshar welcomed Shami with a six in the last over but was dismissed on the fourth ball of the over. Enrich Norkia hit the last ball for a four and took the team’s score to 162. Regular captain Rishabh Pant also appeared in the stadium to encourage the team. Pant was badly injured in a car accident. He is currently undergoing rehabilitation after surgery.

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