Axar Patel races to 300 T20 wickets, completes this double
What's the story
Ace Indian all-rounder Axar Patel has raced to 300 wickets in the T20 format. The left-arm spinner accomplished the milestone with his first strike in the fourth T20I against New Zealand at Auckland's Eden Park. Abhishek Sharma took a simple catch as Axar dismissed the dangerous Finn Allen to complete the landmark. Allen's dismissal left New Zealand at 93 for three after eight overs, marking a pivotal moment in the match. Here we look at Axar's stats.
Match strategy
Crucial wicket for India
Allen, who made 31 off 17, dominated the eighth over until Axar struck with the final delivery.
The right-handed batter hit a four and two sixes, taking the over for 17 runs.
However, on his next big hit attempt, he found Abhishek inches inside the boundary rope.
This wicket ended a 59-run partnership with Glenn Phillips that had taken New Zealand to a challenging position from an earlier score of 34 for two.
Axar, who also went for runs, finished with 1/43 from three overs.
Stats
300 wickets for Axar
Axar, who made his T20 debut in March 2013, took 345 games to complete 300 scalps, as per Cricinfo.
The 32-year-old boasts an impressive economy rate of over 7.2 in the format.
The tally includes a solitary four-wicket haul (4/21).
139 of his wickets have come in 176 Indian Premier League (IPL) games, with his economy reading 7.41.
Elite list
Second Indian all-rounder with this double
With the bat, Axar has clobbered 3,811 runs in T20s at 22.02. His strike rate reads 134.61. The tally includes nine fifties.
He became the first Indian all-rounder with the T20 double of 300 wickets and 3,000 runs.
Overall, Axar is now among the six Indian bowlers with 300 scalps in the format.
Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, and Ravichandran Ashwin are the other members of this elite list.
Information
Here are his T20I stats
Earlier this year, Axar became the first Indian spinner to attain 100 T20I wickets. He has now raced to 116 wickets across as many games at an average of 23.51. His economy rate reads 7.76. 16 of his scalps have come in 12 matches against the Kiwis at 24.06.