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During the India vs England 2nd T20I at Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, India were at the top of their game while defending their target of 191 runs. Until Harry Brook counter-attacked, but he was dismissed by Axar Patel in the most unfortunate manner while playing a sweep outside leg stump; the English captain was caught behind.
Ishan Kishan took a sensational catch as the 50-run partnership was broken by Axar Patel, who achieved one of the rarest milestones in T20I cricket. He became the first Indian Men's spinner to complete 100 wickets in T20Is. Brook was dismissed after playing a swashbuckling knock of 38 off 14 deliveries.
Axar Patel scripts history against England
Axar Patel was on 99 wickets in the shortest format of the game, ahead of two of the most decorated white-ball spinners of Team India, Yuzvendra Chahal (96) and Kuldeep Yadav (95). Axar had the bowling figures of 3/9, coming at an impressive average of 21.43, underlining an effective spell with the ball.
The all-rounder maintained excellent control throughout, making regular breakthroughs. Only Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and Hardik Pandya have hit the 100-wicket mark for India; thus, Axar's milestone is a historic event in the country's T20I history.
Axar Patel against England
He has maintained an economy rate of 7.39; the left-arm spinner kept the scoring in check while picking up crucial wickets, making it a highly impactful performance for the side across formats, especially against England, as he has been phenomenal, picking 11 wickets in 12 matches against the Three Lions. He has always been a live wire against England, with an economy of 7.67.
Axar Patel, in the evening, has bowled three overs, 1/12, and has been excellent, varying his pace. He also featured in both T20Is against Ireland in Belfast in June 2026, but managed only two wickets in the series opener and went wicketless in the second match.
Rashid Khan of Afghanistan holds the overall record for the most wickets taken by a spinner in T20Is (193), followed by New Zealand's Ish Sodhi and England's Adil Rashid. The India spinner has been underrated in terms of his T20I bowling; this performance will surely provide him some confidence.
India set up a good total
Coming to the match, India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first. The Men in Blue side made just one change as Vaibhav Sooryavanshi finally made his senior debut, with Sanju Samson making way for the 15-year-old boy wonder, who decently started his career, scoring 14 off 10 balls.
Abhishek Sharma scored 43 off 24 balls, and Ishan Kishan scored 49 off 40 deliveries and went blazing along with Shreyas Iyer, who played a crucial knock of 37 runs. A fiery, impactful knock from vice-captain Tilak Varma of 24 off 11 deliveries helped India go past the 180-run mark as they scored 190/7 in the 20 overs.
While chasing, England were two down inside the first over, losing both openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt out on duck and picked by Arshdeep Singh.
