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The India National Cricket Team spinner Axar Patel has delivered a stunning bowling display in the three-match ODI series opener against the England National Cricket Team at Edgbaston on July 14. The left-arm spinner picked up four wickets to create history in ODI cricket.
England looked set to post around 300 runs on the board in the first ODI against India, but Axar turned the game around in the death overs. The left-arm spinner was the standout performer with the ball for the Men in Blue; Axar Patel finished with 4 wickets for 62 runs.
Axar Patel spins a web around England and achieves rare Indian ODI record
With his remarkable spell, Axar Patel has achieved a rare milestone. His figures of 4/62 at Edgbaston are now the best bowling performance of his ODI career. Additionally, Axar became only the second Indian spinner to take four wickets between overs 41 and 50 in an ODI innings.
The only other Indian spinner to do this was Ravindra Jadeja, who achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in 2013. However, Jadeja is not part of the ongoing three-match ODI series in England. Amid this, Jasprit Bumrah reaches 150 ODI wickets with Harry Brook's scalp in 1st ODI.
India rock England after flying start at Edgbaston
After opting to bat first at Edgbaston, England had suffered a shocking batting collapse after a stunning start. The hosts were cruising at 61 without losing a wicket, but Indian bowlers hit back strongly and reduced them to 107/6 at one stage on the tough Edgbaston surface.
Just when England looked in serious trouble, Joe Root and Liam Dawson came together and played a fighting knock. They added 121 runs for the seventh wicket and brought England back into the game. Root played a steady knock of 76 runs from 76 balls, while Dawson scored his highest ODI score of 68 runs off 83 balls.
Their partnership gave England hope of finishing with a total above 270, but Axar Patel dismissed the lower-order batters one after another as they could manage 258 runs on the board. Amid this, KL Rahul's one-handed screamer sends Will Jacks packing in 1st ODI.
Indian bowlers dominate England batting line-up
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah, who returned after a six-week workload break and was playing his first ODI since the 2023 World Cup final, bowled with great control. Even though Bumrah took only one wicket, he conceded just 31 runs in nine overs and bowled 36 dot balls.
Young left-arm pacer Gurnoor Brar made a strong comeback after an expensive start. He removed Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell in the same over to put England on the back foot. Prasidh Krishna also impressed by taking the big wickets of Jos Buttler and Sam Curran.
Although Root and Dawson fought back with a brilliant partnership, Axar Patel's was one of the finest bowling performances of his ODI career, ending their hopes of coming close to the 300-mark.
Notably, the last time a team successfully defended a target of less than 300 runs in a full 50-over ODI at Edgbaston was during the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, when South Africa defended 236 runs against Pakistan.
