IPL 2023 emotional rollercoaster: Axar Patel saves Delhi Capitals the blushes in a low-scoring low-quality game against KKR

Axar Patel saves DC the blushes
When David Warner fell to Varun Chakravarthy, missing a reverse sweep and trapped lbw, Delhi Capitals needed 35 from 41 balls, with 6 wickets intact. But unsurprisingly DC started to freeze. Manish Pandey combusted tamely, chipping the spinner Anukul Roy straight to long-on to leave them needing 18 from 25. KKR’s captain Nitin Rana brought himself on to clean-up a nervy Aman Hakim Khan. With 14 needed from 17 balls, KKR’s Litton Das missed a stumping chance of Lalit Yadav as he failed to gather cleanly.
Luckily for DC, Axar Patel survived a few close moments against Varun: a lbw appeal was negated as it struck him too high, he couldn’t connect with a wild slog but the ball bounced over the stumps, and then he failed to read a googly, flailing across the line, but the ball had landed outside leg stump. In the penultimate over, from Nitish Rana, Litton was pretty late in whipping off the bails to complete the stumping chance, allowing Axar to get back to safety. With 7 runs needed in the final over, Axar finished off with three two’s.
Hundred, and a duck
“Pretty confident heading into this game, not because of the hundred but for the way I have been approaching the game, that is more important in terms of my batting,” Venkatesh Iyer would say before the toss. It was perhaps that confidence that made him go for an on-the-up ambitious punch off the pacy Anrich Nortje. But it was too fast, and he was a touch late on the ball – and it flew rapidly to Mitch Marsh at wide first slip, and he managed to cup his palms in time to take that to send back Iyer for a duck.

Off the mark in #TATAIPL 2023 ✅@DelhiCapitals with a much-needed victory as they complete a 4-wicket win over #KKR at home 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/CYENNIiaQp #TATAIPL | #DCvKKR pic.twitter.com/Ol7Mu3s9IT
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2023
Mandeep vs Warner
Mandeep Singh seemed to have a death-wish. Twice, in one over. He would push the ball towards mid-off to David Warner and scramble across in a great hurry. The bowler Ishant Sharma would turn , look at Warner, and stand in the middle of the pitch. As is his right. Mandeep would rush straight, just about avoid Ishant – a slight brush off shoulder both times- and throw in a dive. Both times, the LED lights lit up, though not from Warner’s throw but it was Mandeep crashing into the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Mandeep would lay sprawled, so would Warner, and Ishant would be holding his head.

Leading the Captain © way 👏@davidwarner31 brings up yet another #TATAIPL 5️⃣0️⃣ this season 👌#DCvKKR pic.twitter.com/lEZI735CDm
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2023
Axar’s bowling better than his hair cut
The haircut might suggest that Axar Patel got up off the barber’s chair after having second thoughts about his coiffure – crudely shaved on the sides, but the bowling was spot on in the first over. A few arm-balls, and the second one that rapped the pad of Mandeep Singh who looked for a reverse sweep seemed worth a DRS review though Axar didn’t take it. Instead, he spun the next one sharply, enough to suggest that spin is going to take centre stage for the rest of the night.
Lucky Roy, self-combusting Mandeep
When Jason Roy top-edged his pull, he winced, realising his goose was cooked. But the bowler Mitch Marsh overcooked it. Marsh jogged towards midwicket where the ball was dropping, reached the spot, but clanged the catch. Shades of Steve Waugh, who would drop the atrociously easy skiers every now and then. DC would get a wicket soon though, as in the next over, Mandeep Singh, who had been a cat on a tin roof for a while there, moved to the off side to play a lap shot to Axar. No wood on the leather, though, and the stumps clattered.
Why didn’t Warner bring Kuldeep on earlier?
Why David Warner waited till the 15th over to give Kuldeep Yadav his second over, only he would know. Already, Axar Patel had shown that spin was the way to go on this track. And especially against Jason Roy and Andre Russell in, Kuldeep on a track abetting turn should be a no-brainer. And the moment Warner got him on, Kuldeep struck a double blow. An ill-executed slog sweep from Roy sent it right up for a catch and the other Roy, impact sub Anukul Roy, missed a googly and was trapped lbw.
6,6,6 Dre-Russ flexes
Andre Russell waited. And waited. Until the final over when he exploded against Mukesh Kumar. First he went over long-on. Then midwicket. And he completed the hat-trick of sixes finishing the arc with a six over square-leg. In a puzzling move, Warner didn’t even finish the quota of Kuldeep Yadav, who only got 3 overs in on a track that aided turn. There were enough chances in the second half for him to get a proper crack at Russell, but Warner chose not to deploy him. Strange.

– !
Relive Muscle Russell’s humongous final-over maximums 🔥🔥#TATAIPL | #DCvKKR | @Russell12A pic.twitter.com/GU6t2Hio0M
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 20, 2023
Shaw fell, Ponting’s face fell
“I honestly feel that this is going to be Prithvi Shaw’s biggest season in the IPL,” Ricky Ponting had said just before the IPL. And as Shaw fell yet again for a cheap score, inside-edging a cut shot off Varun Chakravarthy onto his stumps, the camera swooped on Ponting at the dugout for the reaction shot. It was as expected: a grimace had descended. Then a baleful stare, as he bit his finger. Shaw has been out to pace, medium-pace, and spin this season. Will DC continue to show trust and hope or will they pull the plug soon?