The six-wicket defeat against the five-time champions kept Delhi at rock bottom of the points table, but the team’s skipper David Warner said there were still a lot of positives from the game, including the consistent batting form of all-rounder Axar Patel, who, according to Warner, should be batting in the top four.
“Axar should bat in the top four the way he is striking the ball. From the last three games we have played, there are a lot of positives,” said Warner in a post-match presentation.
Jason Behrendorff and Piyush Chawla’s three-wicket hauls, followed by captain Rohit Sharma’s half-century and Tilak Verma’s 41, took MI to victory, but not without nervous hiccups at the end of the run-chase, which went down to the last ball of the game.
For three consecutive days, the IPL matches have ended in the final over.
“You look at the last three IPL games we have witnessed, they have been amazing. Wrong end of it today, but the guys were fantastic. Rohit played a fantastic knock at the top of the order. (Anrich) Nortje is world class and that is what we expect from him, Mustafizur (Rahman) too,” said Warner.
But if it wasn’t for Axar’s 25-ball 54, Delhi wouldn’t have been able to set MI a target of 173 to win.
Axar’s batting has been an asset for the Indian team and DC this year. In 12 international matches this year, Axar has managed 444 runs in 13 innings at an average of 63.82 and a strike rate of 74.12. He has scored four half-centuries, with the best score of 84.
For DC this season, Axar has scored 108 runs, including one half-century, in four innings at an average of 27.00 with a strike rate of 168.75.
(With agency inputs)
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