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On Thursday, September 5, Axar Patel bailed out India D in a magnificent batting performance, scoring 86 against India C in the Duleep Trophy match at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur. After India D lost five of their top order batters in quick succession in the first session of day one, the Indian international stitched together valuable partnerships with the lower order, to help his team post 164 runs on the board in their first innings.
After Ruturaj Gaikwad, the India C captain, put India D into batting first on a spicy pitch in Anantapur, their fast bowlers wreaked havoc on the opposition. Anshul Kamboj and Vijaykumar Vyshak picked up wickets in the first hour of the first session’s play on day one, to have India D reeling at 34/5 before Axar Patel walked out to bat in the middle for his team.
Axar Patel scored 86 out of 164 runs in India D's first innings against India C in Duleep Trophy
While the wickets kept falling from the other end, the left-handed batter managed to blend caution with aggression in a perfect manner during his innings, taking down the India C bowlers one after another. Axar Patel was quite severe on the spinners Manav Suthar and Hrithik Shokeen, smashing them for fours and maximums at will, to keep the India D scorecard moving forward.
Watch the video of Axar Patel taking down Manav Suthar here:
Axar Patel ended up scoring 86 runs off 118 balls, an innings which included six fours and six maximums in total. The second highest individual total in the India D innings belonged to Srikar Bharat ,Saranash Jain, and Arshdeep Singh, who scored 13 runs each, to play a role in propelling India D’s score to 164 runs.
India C are 91/4 at the close of play on day one versus India D in Duleep Trophy
In response, India C are 91/4 at the close of play on day one of the Duleep Trophy clash with Baba Indrajith and Abhishek Porel putting together a partnership of substance. Harshit Rana picked up a couple of wickets for India D, getting the better of openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Sai Sudharsan before Axar Patel impressed with the ball, taking two wickets himself.
