The Delhi Capitals player, Axar Patel, caught the ball in an incredible way to get Wriddhiman Saha out. Saha was batting really well. This happened in the match against Gujarat Titans on April 24th.
Chasing a mammoth 225 for win, GT lost skipper Shubman Gill early for a five-ball six. Nonetheless, Saha raced to 39 off only 24 deliveries and formed an important 82-run partnership with Sai Sudharsan for the second wicket.
However, the experienced wicketkeeper attempted to go over cover off Kuldeep Yadav, but Axar timed his jump perfectly to secure a wonderful catch. The catch helped break up a strong partnership and put DC ahead in the game.
Here’s a video of Axar Patel’s great catch:
Axar’s catch was his 100th in the IPL, making up for one he dropped earlier in the innings off Rasikh Salam’s bowling. However, the 30-year-old caught Gill and subsequently dismissed Sai Sudharsan with a third grab.
As things stand, GT are putting forth a valiant attempt to reach the target of 225 at 136/4 in 14 overs.
Axar Patel scored a sublime half-century in DC’s batting innings
Axar Patel demonstrated his all-round ability by smashing a magnificent 66 off 43 during DC’s batting effort of 224/4 in 20 overs.
Walking in at No.3 in the fourth over, the seasoned all-rounder hit five boundaries and four maximums throughout his innings. Axar and skipper Rishabh Pant scored a game-changing 113 off 68 balls for the fourth wicket.
During the mid-innings break, Axar spoke with the announcers about his knock:
“My role was to take on the three spinners, the talk was that we should take the partnership as deep as possible, the ball wasn’t coming onto the bat, was a slow pitch. The mindset is very important, you can’t think about playing off a bowler, the mindset was to be attacking, take the single and twos on offer and keep rotating the strike.”
Axar Patel
Axar has had a productive IPL 2024 season, hitting 123 runs and taking seven wickets in nine matches.
Despite his heroics, DC has struggled to maintain consistency, winning only three of their eight matches. A win in the current match will likely move them from ninth to sixth in the points table.