Axar Patel won Player of the Match on April 24 at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad as he assisted the Delhi Capitals in earning their second victory of the Indian Premier League 2023 over Sunrisers Hyderabad. The southpaw demonstrated his all-around abilities as he helped DC win by a slim margin of 7 runs by scoring 34 with the bat and picking 2/21 with the ball.
Before entering the game, Axar Patel shared a hilarious story from the dressing room after his outstanding all-around performance. In the first innings, DC experienced a shocking collapse after losing three wickets to Washington Sundar in the eighth over. Patel revealed the drama that occurred in the changing room during the intense over and claimed that he had ordered a coffee but had to leave it where it was and hurried out to bat.
“Since I had just ordered a coffee, I had no notion. After learning that the side had lost three wickets in one over, I simply left the glass in that position. Having that connection was helpful because we knew if we could score some runs, it would give us a chance. When questioned if the coffee was still there, Patel laughed and replied, “It’s still there with the packing.
DC were 57/2 after 7 overs, with skipper David Warner (21* off 18) and Sarfaraz Khan (10* off 8) at the crease, hoping for a respectable score. Aman Hakim Khan, Warner, and Sarfaraz were all dismissed by Washington Sundar in the same over for just five runs, though, and the situation rapidly changed in favor of the visitors. Patel and Manish Pandey came to the crease, and DC were 62/5 after 8 overs.
Axar Patel fired Aiden Markram and Mayank Agarwal.
In order to get Delhi to a score of 144/9 in the first innings, the pair made 69 runs in 59 balls for the sixth wicket. As of 67/1 after 11 overs in the second innings, with Mayank Agarwal (48* off 37) and Rahul Tripathi (11* off 16) at the crease, SRH was making good progress in their pursuit.
as 14.1 overs, SRH was reeling at 85/5 as Axar Patel dismissed the well-positioned Agarwal for 49 in the 12th over and added the prized scalp of SRH captain Aiden Markram in the 15th over. Washington Sundar (24* off 15) and Heinrich Klaasen (31 off 19) gave it their all to get their team home, but they ultimately fell seven runs short of DC’s total.