Axar Patel, Gautam Gambhir

NEW DELHI: Indian men’s cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir, the experiment-in-chief, took a gamble as he sent all-rounder Axar Patel at no.3, but it didn’t pay off as Patel didn’t look in touch and struggled to find rhythm in his short-lived inning.Patel came to bat in the very first over of India’s chase of 214 on Thursday during the second T20I against South Africa, after Shubman Gill was dismissed for a Golden Duck by Lungi Ngidi.

However, as wickets kept falling at the other end – with opener Abhishek Sharma dismissed on 17 and captain Suryakumar Yadav caught behind on 5 off 4 balls – Axar’s innings couldn’t pick the pace and the left handed batter was dismissed eventually by Ottneil Baartman thanks to a brilliant catch by Reeza Hendricks at short covers. Axar could score only 21 off 21 balls. Earlier, Quinton de Kock scored a fiery half century to take South Africa to 213 for 4 against India in the second T20I here on Thursday.Opening the innings, de Kock went hammer and tongs as he scored a 46-ball 90 that was laced with seven sixes and five boundaries after being asked to bat.While Donovan Ferreira (30 not out) and David Miller (20 not out) provided the final flourish.For India, mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy (2/29) was the pick of the bowlers.