Axar Patel he excelled at the death to enter the Indian ODI cricket special in the opening match against England at Edgbaston on Tuesday. The left-arm spinner became the second Indian spinner to take four wickets between the 41st and 50th overs of an ODI innings. The only Indian batsman to achieve this feat was Ravindra Jadeja, who did it against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain in 2013. Axar’s late burst helped India bowl England out for 258 after the hosts made a remarkable recovery through Joe Root and Liam Dawson. England appeared to be in the lowest possible danger as they slumped from 61 not out to 107 for six. However, Root and Dawson stitched a 121-run partnership for the seventh innings to frustrate the Indian attack and revive the innings. Root top scored with 76 from 76 balls, while Dawson registered a superb 68 from 83 balls. The duo soaked up the run created by Jasprit Bumrah before pointing to other bowlers where the pitch became easy to hit. Just when England looked set to finish strongly, Axar struck again and again in the final over. He defied the lows to finish with his best ODI figures of 4 for 62, ensuring England were limited to 258 instead of the 275-mark. Earlier, India’s pace batting dominated the first half of the innings. Bumrah, returning after a six-week layoff, performed brilliantly despite finishing with just one wicket. The pace master conceded just 31 runs in nine overs, including 36 dot balls, as he troubled England’s top order with pace and bounce. Young left-arm seamer Gurnoor Brar impressed by dismissing Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett immediately after a costly start, while Prasidh Krishna chipped in with important wickets. Jos Buttler and Sam Curran as England were reduced to 107 for six. Root and Dawson then rebuilt the innings before Axar’s late strike ended the recovery. In doing so, the batsman not only recorded the best ODI figures of his bowling career but also matched the unusual joke of Indian bowling that had remained untouched for over a decade.
