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Team India all-rounder Axar Patel kept his side in the hunt in the second T20 against Sri Lanka at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Thursday (January 5). It was Axar’s maiden fifty, which came off just 20 balls which gave Hardik Pandya’s side some semblance of hope after they had slipped to 57 for 5, chasing 207 runs to win.
Axar put on 91 runs for the sixth wicket with world no. 1 T20 batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 51 off 36 balls. The Delhi Capitals all-rounder ended up with 65 off 31 balls with six sixes and three fours – the highest score by an Indian batsman at No. 7, surpassing Ravindra Jadeja’s 44 not out which came in 2020.
He surprised everyone and smashed the joint 5th fastest fifty for India alongside Yuvraj Singh off just 20 deliveries against Sri Lanka in the 2nd T20. This is also the second fastest half-century by an Indian against the Lankan side in T20I cricket after Gautam Gambhir’s 19-ball fifty in 2009. Axar notched up a hattrick of sixes in Sri Lanka’s premier spinner Wanindu Hasaranga’s over and also brought up his fifty. with an amazing six.
Sixes | Axar – Sky _ #axarpatel #SuryakumarYadav #sixers #T20 #indiavsrilanka pic.twitter.com/e5na7Gs6Nz— VICKY SINARI (@vicky1350) January 5, 2023
Earlier, Axar was also the pick of the Indian bowlers, claiming 2/24 in 4 overs as Dasun Shanaka’s side posted 206 after being sent in to bat. He was finally dismissed for 65 by Shanaka in the final over of the chase with 21 needed off the final over.
Shanaka lavished praise on Axar Patel and Suryakumar Yadav, who stitched a 91-run sixth wicket stand to almost take the game away from Sri Lanka. “It’s not the dew factor, it’s the skill of Indian batters. They took the game away from us but still we managed to hold the nerve. Really good to defend the total especially against India in these conditions,” Shanaka said after the match.
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