Axar Patel’s All-Round Heroics Guide India to a Thrilling 6-Wicket Win Over England!
Whenever India and England meet on English soil, cricket fans can expect a great show. That was what happened yesterday at the iconic Edgbaston ground in Birmingham, when the first match of the 3-match ODI series lived up to all the expectations. Having overcome a tough T20I phase, Team India launched into its 50-over campaign with great success, winning the match by 6 wickets to lead by 1-0.
The star of the match was Axar Patel from the Indian side, who proved to have single-handedly taken victory. His brilliant four wickets and half-century led to the victory of the Indian side. Due to the successful innings of the captain Shubman Gill and the win of Washington Sundar, Team India managed to make it to the target with time to spare.
Let us take a closer look at the unfolding of the action of the match.
Match Overview
• Toss: England won the coin toss and chose to bat first.
• England Innings: 258/10 in 47.5 overs
• India Innings: 262/4 in 45.2 overs
• Result: India secured victory by 6 wickets, with 28 balls to spare.
• Series Status: India is currently ahead in the three-match series with a score of 1-0.
- England’s Innings: A Top-Order Collapse and the Root-Dawson Rescue
Choosing to bat first on a good Edgbaston pitch, the openers for England, Ben Duckett (43) and Jacob Bethell (14), gave their side a steady, no-frills start as they shared an opening partnership of 61 runs. But it did not take long for the Indian bowlers to destroy the England batting order once the first wicket had fallen.
In a matter of moments, England’s top and middle order was blown away by the Indian pace attack. Prasidh Krishna and debutant Gurnoor Brar found plenty of bounce and movement to help take the England score from 61 for no wicket to 107 for the loss of six wickets. Famous names like captain Jos Buttler (5), Harry Brook (1), and Sam Curran (0) fell in a hurry as the British fans looked on in disbelief.
The Extraordinary Intervention of Joe Root and Liam Dawson
As England seemed to be in complete peril, seasoned cricketer Joe Root excelled in his dutyIn a crucial capacity as the backbone of his innings, Root adeptly rotated the strike and took advantage of loose deliveries from time to time. He found an able co-partner in Liam Dawson, who surprisingly played one of the best innings of his life.
The Root-Dawson duo managed to pull off an astonishing partnership of 121 runs for the seventh wicket:
• Joe Root scored 76 not out from 76 balls* (6 fours, 1 six).
• Liam Dawson was astonishingly brilliant as he scored 68 runs off 83 balls, hitting 6 fours and a six to help his team recover from calamity.
The duo managed to score above the 250 mark. But unfortunately, just when it seemed that England was set to take the match home with great strides during the last overs of the innings, Axar Patel showed up and took care of the lower-order batsmen, bowling out England for a total of 258 runs in 47.5 overs.
2. India’s Bowling: Bumrah’s Economy & Axar’s Golden Arm
The Indian bowling side was in impressive shape, showing terrific discipline and clever tactics throughout the innings, with the following points summarizing its performance:
• Left out of the team for the earlier games, Jasprit Bumrah was back at the front. He bowled fantastically well to end with a wicket and 31 runs in 9 overs at a phenomenal economy rate of just 3.44.
• Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar excelled in the middle overs, each taking 2 wickets and securing vital breakthroughs.
• Axar Patel took the most wickets, getting the phenomenal figures of 4 wickets for 62 runs in 9.5 overs.
3. India’s Chase: Early Shocks & Shubman’s Classy Anchor
Chasing 259 on a pitch that was beginning to spin up was always going to be difficult, and India’s chase started in the worst possible way with both their superstar openers, Rohit Sharma (11) and Virat Kohli (5), going for cheap scores during the powerplay.
Shubman Gill’s Captain’s Knock:
In a tricky situation for India, skipper Shubman Gill took over the match after displaying brilliant wristwork and beautiful cover drives which enabled him to keep the scoreboard running. He scored a beautiful 80 runs off 75 balls comprising 11 fours and one six.
Together with Shreyas Iyer (35), Gill constructed a solid partnership and was well set for a century. However, severe leg cramps forced Gill to leave the pitch as Retired Hurt. His exit led to a mini-collapse as Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul (1) followed suit which left India sweating at 160/4.
4. The Match-Winning Stand: Axar & Sundar Seal the Deal
With 99 more runs required and India basically out of the game, it was perhaps the right time for England to believe that they had a chance of a victory. But what they didn’t know was what was coming! Enter the spin-allrounders: Axar Patel and Washington Sundar.
Instead of adopting a defensive approach, the two kept on playing their natural game. They did not waste any ball, kept taking quick singles, and thus managed to demoralize the English bowlers by putting on an unbeaten 102-run stand:
• Axar scored a cracking half-century (57 runs off 52 balls* with 5 fours and a six).
• Washington Sundar scored 52 runs off 63 balls*, concluding the match with a huge six.
Though not many supporters of India had thought that they could win the match at that point in time, the duo’s partnership saw them through successfully.
Complete Match Scorecard:
England Innings
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Ben Duckett | c Bumrah b Gurnoor | 43 | 45 | 6 | 2 | 95.55 |
| Jacob Bethell | c Sundar b Gurnoor | 14 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 45.16 |
| Joe Root | not out | 76 | 76 | 6 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Harry Brook | c Rohit b Bumrah | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Jos Buttler | c Gurnoor b Prasidh | 5 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 35.71 |
| Sam Curran | c Rahul b Prasidh | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Will Jacks | c Rahul b Dube | 20 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 105.26 |
| Liam Dawson | c Rohit b Axar | 68 | 83 | 6 | 1 | 81.92 |
| Jofra Archer | c Sundar b Axar | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 200.00 |
| Adil Rashid | st Rahul b Axar | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20.00 |
| Josh Tongue | b Axar | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 18 | |||||
| Total Score | All out (47.5 overs) | 258 |
India Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Econ |
| Jasprit Bumrah | 9 | 0 | 31 | 1 | 3.44 |
| Prasidh Krishna | 10 | 2 | 50 | 2 | 5.00 |
| Gurnoor Brar | 9 | 0 | 61 | 2 | 6.77 |
| Shivam Dube | 6 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 4.50 |
| Washington Sundar | 4 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 3.25 |
| Axar Patel | 9.5 | 0 | 62 | 4 | 6.30 |
India Innings (Target: 259)
| Batsman | Dismissal | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s | SR |
| Rohit Sharma | c Brook b Sam Curran | 11 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 52.38 |
| Shubman Gill | retired hurt | 80 | 75 | 11 | 1 | 106.66 |
| Virat Kohli | lbw b Jofra Archer | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 |
| Shreyas Iyer | run out (Harry Brook) | 35 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 66.03 |
| Washington Sundar | not out | 52 | 63 | 4 | 1 | 82.53 |
| KL Rahul | b Josh Tongue | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33.33 |
| Axar Patel | not out | 57 | 52 | 5 | 1 | 109.61 |
| Extras | 21 | |||||
| Total Score | 4 wickets (45.2 overs) | 262 |
England Bowling
| Bowler | Overs | Maidens | Runs | Wickets | Econ |
| Jofra Archer | 10 | 0 | 60 | 1 | 6.00 |
| Josh Tongue | 10 | 0 | 50 | 1 | 5.00 |
| Sam Curran | 10 | 0 | 55 | 1 | 5.50 |
| Adil Rashid | 5.2 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 6.37 |
| Jacob Bethell | 1 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10.00 |
| Liam Dawson | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 5.00 |
| Will Jacks | 7 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 6.14 |
Player of the Match: Axar Patel:
Without question, the match ball belonged to Axar Patel. He came through when needed the most for India – first efficiently using his left-arm orthodox spin to slow down England’s lower order and following it up with a calculated knock of half a century with the bat to see India home.
Demonstrating his ability to perform under pressure in English conditions with both bat and ball illustrates the significant progress Axar Patel has made as a world-class all-rounder.
Conclusion:
The first ODI at Edgbaston was a huge motivation for the Indian players. Though the unusual failures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are a cause for concern, the determination of the middle order, particularly the performance of the spin bowlers in the match should bode well for India in the tour.
Meanwhile, England will have to sort out their shaky top order. At the same time the efforts by Joe Root and Liam Dawson show that England will be a tough team to beat.
Having taken a 1-0 lead, India will be looking to win the next match in the series.
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