Kings XI Punjab captain Murli Vijay praised left-arm spinner Axar Patel’s bowling performance after their fantastic win over Gujrat Lions in IPL. Vijay termed his bowling spell as “incredible”. Axar did the star turn as laggards Kings XI rode on the left-arm spinner’s hat-trick, first of the ongoing ninth edition of the league, to upset Gujarat Lions on Sunday.
“One has to give credit to Axar . He was under pressure in previous matches. It was an incredible performance by Axar,” said Vijay. Kings XI Punjab were all out for 154 in the stipulated 20 overs, but restricted the Gujrat Lions to 131 for 9.
Patel finished with impressive figures of 4/21 in his four overs which included a hat-trick. Axar first removed dangerous Dwayne Smith in his second over and then took two consecutive wickets in last two balls of the over by removing Dinesh Karthik (2) and Dwayne Bravo (0). he came back to dismiss Ravindra Jadeja with the first ball of his third over to claim the hat-trick. “We have been missing out on the smaller aspects of the game in the previous games. It was bound to come because we have quality players in the side,” Vijay said .
Vijay also praised two pace duo of Mohit Sharma and Sandeep Sharma for their efforts. “Mohit and Sandeep were excellent and followed by Axar. We won the match because of team efforts,” he said.