At the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur on the 9th of September 2023, the Meerut Mavericks recorded a decisive victory over the Kashi Rudras in the ongoing UPT20 competition. The Mavericks won by a score of seven wickets. The ravenous Swastik Chikara (66) and Rituraj Sharma (63), who combined to add 133 runs to their combination, drove the victorious run chase. Earlier in the day, Kashi’s Shivam Bansal (69) played a fantastic knock, but Meerut ultimately decided that it was unnecessary. As a result of the win, Meerut Mavericks have now racked up 10 points throughout their last seven contests.
After being given the opportunity to bat first, the Kashi Rudras put up a solid powerplay. In spite of the fact that Shiva Singh was dismissed for six, Captain Karan Sharma (20) and Shivam Bansal (69) led the Kashi Rudras to a score of 53/1 after six overs. Vishal Chaudhary was the one who ended Karan Sharma and Shivam Bansal’s partnership in the ninth over, which had resulted in 62 runs. However, Shivam Bansal was in brilliant form, and his innings consisted of a combination of subtle touches and clean sixes, and he reached his half-century in only 32 balls.
Bansal was bowled out by Yash Garg in the 13th over, bringing the score to 108/3 at the time. This removal came shortly after the previous one. Yash Garg bowled Prince Yadav and then sent him back to the pavilion in the 16th over, after the latter had contributed 25 runs to the total. While Kashi Rudras had laid the groundwork for a large score, the bowling performance of the Meerut Mavericks in the death overs was outstanding.
The Meerut Mavericks were only able to reach 155/5 in the end because of Vaibhav Chaudhary and Kartik Tyagi’s economical bowling, and Kartik Tyagi also castled Parv Singh (8). Ankur Malik (20*) maintained his perfect record but was unable to create any exciting moments in the match’s final moments. With bowling numbers of 2/32, Yash Garg once again stood out as the best of the Meerut bowling team.
A wicketless powerplay allowed the Meerut Mavericks to rack up 48 runs in the second innings. This included a 16-run over bowled by Shiva Singh that was coordinated by the opener, Ruturaj Sharma (63), who scored 63. In the over that followed the powerplay, Swastik Chikara (66) took M. Sharim for three fours and a six, establishing his dominance as the owner of the orange cap. When the Meerut Mavericks were cruising to their objective at 91/0 in 10 overs, Chikara brought up yet another half-century in just 36 deliveries. This time it took him.
In conjunction with his fellow opening batsman, Rituraj Sharma also hit a half-century off of 34 balls. The monumental partnership of 133 runs, which was also the most of the competition up to that point, was broken up in the 15th over when Deependra Yadav took the scalps of both of the well-settled batsmen. Divyansh Joshi (14*), Rinku Singh (7), and Uvaish Ahmed (1) each contributed to push the Meerut Mavericks across the finish line in 16.4 overs with 7 wickets in hand. The Meerut Mavericks needed 16 runs in 5 overs to win. Kashi Rudras’ only wicket-taker was Deependra Yadav, who finished with three for seventeen.
Summarised Results
Meerut Mavericks won by 7 wickets
Kashi Rudras: 155/5 (Shivam Bansal – 69 runs in 40 balls, Prince Yadav – 25 runs in 22 balls Ankur Malik – 20* runs in 18 balls, Karan Sharma – 20 runs in 24 balls, Yash Garg – 2/32, Vishal Chaudhary 1/23, Kunal Yadav – 1/33, Kartik Tyagi – 1/38)
Meerut Mavericks: 156/3 in 16.4 overs (Swastik Chikara – 66 runs in 47 balls, Rituraj Sharma – 63 runs in 40 balls, Divyansh Joshi – 15* runs in 7 balls, Deependra Yadav – 3/17)
India
