At the BRSABV Ekana Stadium, Axar bowled his four overs upfront, with his figures reading 0\/29. But more importantly, his economy rate was better than Kuldeep Yadav, who went wicketless in IPL 2025 for the first time.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
With the bat, Axar stood up to apply finishing touches by hitting 34 not out off 20 balls, as DC completed the chase of 160 in 17.5 overs. All of this meant Axar was clearly the better skipper on display than his LSG counterpart Rishabh Pant, who was out for a duck after coming out to bat at number seven.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"The pitch did get better to bat on, but it was Axar Patel\u2019s intent from ball one that stood out. LSG didn\u2019t bowl particularly well to him early on, but he capitalised. It was the kind of innings LSG needed from Rishabh Pant.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cAxar stood up for his team\u2014bowled his four overs straight, led from the front, and made an impact. You can see he really wants to play his part as skipper\u2014something we haven\u2019t quite seen from Rishabh,\" said Watson on JioHotstar.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Axar put on an unbeaten 56-run stand with KL Rahul, who hit 57 not out, his third fifty of the season. Facing LSG for the first time since his not so pleasant exit from the franchise, Rahul also reached the landmark of 5000 runs in the IPL, becoming the quickest batter to get there (in 130 innings), and even finished off the chase with a six.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"KL Rahul just did what he does best\u2014batted with complete control. He didn\u2019t need to take risks, just played a steady hand and picked his moments. What stands out is his ability to switch gears\u2014he\u2019s taken the game on throughout the tournament, but today he was calm, composed, and calculated. That kind of flexibility gives Delhi Capitals so much depth,\" added Watson.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Watson also praised pacer Mukesh Kumar for his impactful spell of 4-33 in the middle overs, with his yorker outclassing Mitchell Marsh being the standout delivery. \"Mukesh Kumar bowled really well. He made the most of the ball reversing early\u2014the yorker that got Mitchell Marsh swung a fair bit. Marsh was batting beautifully, so that was a big wicket. Mukesh ran in with full commitment and did a great job targeting key wickets in the middle overs.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ambati Rayudu, the former India batter, analysed Abishek Porel\u2019s knock of 51, his first fifty of the season, and felt he should have finished the chase. \"It was a very good innings from Porel. He wasn\u2019t always in complete control\u2014there were a few streaky shots\u2014but everything came off for him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Watson also praised pacer Mukesh Kumar for his impactful spell of 4-33 in the middle overs, with his yorker outclassing Mitchell Marsh being the standout delivery. \"Mukesh Kumar bowled really well. He made the most of the ball reversing early\u2014the yorker that got Mitchell Marsh swung a fair bit. Marsh was batting beautifully, so that was a big wicket. Mukesh ran in with full commitment and did a great job targeting key wickets in the middle overs.\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Also Read: <\/b> LIVE Cricket Score<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n