"That was the game-changing moment" - Aakash Chopra lauds Axar Patel's match-winning spell in DC-PBKS IPL 2022 clash

Axar Patel was at his meanest best against the Punjab Kings [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra believes Axar Patel's dismissal of Liam Livingstone was the game-changing moment in last night's IPL 2022 clash between the Delhi Capitals (DC) and the Punjab Kings (PBKS).

Livingstone danced down the track against Patel, only to be beaten by the turn and stumped by Rishabh Pant. The left-arm spinner finished with exceptional figures of 2/10 as the Capitals bowled out the Kings for a lowly total of 115 runs.

While reviewing the match in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked Patel's spell as the game-defining performance. He reasoned:

"You can put many different players' names in that - everyone took two wickets apiece. You can put the names of Khaleel, Kuldeep, Lalit Yadav or Axar Patel, any of the bowlers. Actually, I am going with Axar Patel for a simple reason that he dismissed Liam Livingstone. I think that was the game-changing moment."

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the match was almost over as a contest after Livingstone's dismissal. Chopra elaborated:

"The wickets had started falling - Shikhar had gotten out, Mayank also got out, Jonny Bairstow also got out. But when Livingstone gets out, there is not much fight left in the match, it becomes one-sided suddenly. The way he (Axar) left Liam Livingstone stranded halfway down the pitch, it was a ball to watch."

Wickets like these 💙

Bapu drags the length back to an advancing Livingstone, and #RP17 does the rest 🔥

#YehHaiNayiDilli | #IPL2022 | #DCvPBKS
#TATAIPL | #IPL | #DelhiCapitals https://t.co/HubgGXrA8R

Apart from Livingstone's wicket, Patel also trapped Jitesh Sharma in front of the wickets with a full delivery. Sharma, who top-scored for PBKS with 32 runs, missed the ball while trying to sweep the lanky spinner.

Check out the IPL purple cap 2022 here.

"Axar Patel was both economical and wicket-taking" - Aakash Chopra

Axar Patel was unlucky not to be chosen as the Player of the Match [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra highlighted that Axar Patel is proving more and more effective with the ball as the tournament progresses. He explained:

"He (Axar) bowled an extremely tight line, he was both economical and wicket-taking, not one but he picked up two wickets. He bowled at different stages. If we see the start of the tournament, Axar was going wicketless, but he picked up a wicket in the last match and took wickets here as well."

The 44-year-old also shared his reason for not picking either David Warner or Prithvi Shaw as the star performer in Wednesday's encounter. Chopra observed:

"You might be thinking why not Warner, why not Prithvi - their job was easy. When the opposing team gets bowled out for 115, then you need to give it to the bowlers. Kuldeep also took two wickets but he caught the tail, Axar got hold of the top. No one could read him and his name will be written in bold letters in the newspapers."

Warner (60* off 30) and Shaw (41 off 20) strung together an enterprising 83-run partnership for the opening wicket. Their explosive knocks helped the Capitals chase down the 116-run target in just 10.3 overs.