UPT20: Meerut Mavericks win by 42 runs to register sixth victory, against Noida Super Kings

Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 12 (ANI): Meerut Mavericks handed Noida Super Kings a rare 42-run defeat to complete their sixth victory of the ongoing UPT20 at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.

Batting first, the Meeru Mavericks set Noida Super Kings a challenging total of 176/10, orchestrated by marvellous knocks from Rinku Singh (53) and Madhav Kaushik (50). With the ball, a team effort from Meerut’s bowling department including wickets from Yash Garg (3/21), Vishal Chaudhary (2/23), Yogendra Doyla (2/25) and Yuvraj Yadav (2/26). While both teams have now secured a berth in the semi-finals, the result means Meerut Mavericks are tied on points with Noida Super Kings at 13 points in nine games.

Asked to set a target by the Noida Super Kings, the Meerut Mavericks had a tepid powerplay. With the inform Swastik Chikara rested, Meerut were quick to lose both openers as Shoaib Siddiqui (2) and Parth Jain (17) were sent back by a crafty Satyam Chauhan. Rinku Singh (53) and Madhav Kaushik (50) proceeded to illuminate the innings with a boundary-laden partnership of 98 runs. Rinku Singh reached his first half-century of the tournament in just 31 balls comprising four fours and four sixes before he fell to Shiven Malhotra, leaving Meerut at 125/3 in 12.4 overs. Coming in at number five, Rajeev Chaturvedi (3) didn’t have much of an impact, scalped by R Dwivedi to bring Yash Garg to the crease. Just as Madhav Kaushik completed his 35-ball half-century, he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Prashant Veer in the 18th over. However, Yash Garg ignited a fiery contribution of 25 runs in 13 deliveries in the death overs, supported by Divyansh Rajput (10) to place the Meerut Mavericks at 176/6 in 20 overs.

In response, the Noida Super Kings accumulated 48 runs for the loss of an aggressive Manish Solanki (21) to Yuvraj Yadav and Saubhagya (10) to Yash Garg by the end of six overs. While Noida fell behind the required run rate, stand-in captain, Samarth Singh (45) looked intent on taking the Noida Super Kings home, he put on a 33-run partnership with Manu Kashyap (5) scoring 28 runs before Manu Kashyap was dismissed by Yuvraj Yadav as well. Following this, the dangerous Aditya Sharma (1) departed for just one run to Yogendra Doyla, leaving them at 75/4 in 10.1 overs. Noida’s prospects further dwindled as the 14th over from Vishal Chaudhary saw the demise of Prashant Veer (13) and the run-out of Osho Mohan (2). The very next over proved fatal as Samarth Singh perished to become Doyla’s second scalp of the night. With three wickets in hand Noida faced an insurmountable challenge ahead of them, falling inevitably short at 134/10 in 17.5 overs. Tarun Pawadia’s unbeaten knock of 22 runs in 12 balls proved to be solely consolatory.

Brief Scores: Meerut Mavericks: 176/6 (Rinku Singh 53, Madhav Kaushik 50, Yash Garg 25, Satyam Chauhan 2/27, Prashant Veer 1/27, Rohit Dwivedi 1/39, Shiven Malhotra 1/42) vs Noida Super Kings: 134/10 in 17.5 overs (Samarth Singh 45, Tarun Pawadia 22, Yash Garg 3/21, Vishal Chaudhary 2/23, Yogendra Doyla 2/25, Yuvraj Yadav 2/26).