Axar Patel took two wickets for ten runs in his four-over quota against the Punjab Kings, guiding the Delhi Capitals to a nine-wicket win at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on Wednesday. The off-spinner’s economy of 2.50 rpo is the best in an innings in IPL 2022. 

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Patel was brought into attack in the sixth over and on the very third ball, the 28-year-old foxed PBKS’ mainstay Liam Livingstone. The Englishman, tempted to take on left-arm orthodox, shimmied down the wicket. Axar Patel dragged back his length only to see the ball spin away sharply. The batter was stumped after scoring two runs. 

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Axar Patel’s next wicket came on the first ball of the 13th over. PBKS were 84/4, Jitesh Sharma and Shahrukh Khan trying to build a partnership. The spinnner bowled fuller to find Sharma, who shuffled across for a premeditated sweep, leg before wicket. The batter top-scored for Punjab with 32 runs in 23 balls with the help of five boundaries. 

The likes of Axar Patel, his fellow spinners Kuldeep Yadav (2/24) and Lalit Yadav (2/11) led Delhi’s bowling to restrict Mayank Agarwal and co to the lowest total this season so far – 115 runs. 

Patel, in a mid-innings chat with Harsha Bhogale, was asked about his miserly economy when he snapped back with a Gujarati reference. 

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“Itne kam runs diye aapne sirf 10 run 4 over mein (You gave away only 10 runs in four overs),” Bhogale said. 

“Gujarati hoon na,” Axar Patel fired with a quick response. 

The 28-year-old has a brilliant record against Punjab. 2/22, 1/14, 1/27, 1/21, 2/10 – are his figures against the 2014 finalists. He has an overall average of 13.42 and economy rate of 4.94. 

Riding on a fourth consecutive fifty-plus opening stand between David Warner and Prithvi Shaw, the Capitals chased Punjab’s target in 10.3 overs with nine wickets to spare. Kuldeep Yadav, who was named the player of the match, shared his award with Axar Patel.