Kashi Rudras will take on Meerut Mavericks in the final of UPT20 with the inaugural tournament that saw participation of six teams culminating on Saturday evening at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur.
Kashi Rudras defeated Noida Super Kings by 26 runs in the semifinal on Friday evening to set up the title clash.
Captain Karan Sharma (105*) spearhead Kashi’s efforts with a precisely constructed century. He was aided by an essential half-century from Shivam Bansal (56) and M.Sharim’s (4/27) frequent breakthroughs with the ball. Almas Shaukat (58), Nitish Rana (42) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/25) fought valiantly for Noida Super Kings, but their efforts were in vain. The result ensures that Kashi Rudras become the first finalist of the UPT20, despite being the last team to qualify for the semifinals.
Invited to bat first, Kashi Rudras had a challenging powerplay losing Priyanshu Pandey during yet another magnificent spell from Noida’s Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
While Karan Sharma (105*) and Shivam Bansal (56) were cautious, a 15-run over off Naman Tiwari helped Kashi finish the powerplay at 36/1. Both batsmen toiled in the middle with the absence of frequent boundaries to bring up their 50-run stand in 11.1 overs. Karan Sharma registered his fifth half-century in the competition, a 46-ball endeavour that comprised four fours and two sixes. At the end of 14 overs, the Kashi Rudras were placed at 90/1. The very next over was indicative of the change in momentum with Kashi Rudras smashing 17 runs off the over.
While the runs continued to flow, Shivam Bansal (56) was the next man to go after he completed his half-century in 39 balls, falling to Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 17th over with the scoreline at 132/2. In one of the finest knocks of the tournament, Karan Sharma continued his relentless assault as he was joined by Prince Yadav (17), bringing up his century in 62 deliveries.
His unbeaten knock contained a total of eight fours and seven sixes to ensure the Kashi Rudras accumulated 99 runs in the final six overs to finish with a formidable score of 189/2, a UPT20 release said.
In response the Noida Super Kings also lost an early wicket, losing Samarth Singh (3) to M.Sharim. While Almas Shaukat (58) blazed away to score 34 runs in the powerplay, Bhuvneshwar Kumar (6) who was promoted to number three, failed to deliver the desired impact and perished at the hands of M.Sharim as well.
Captain Nitish Rana (32) walked out with the scoreline reading 45/2 in six overs. Almas Shaukat brought up his half-century in 32 deliveries, smashing seven fours and a six before he was dismissed in the 14th over by Prince Yadav to end the 64-run stand with Rana. Prashant Veer (13) joined Nitish Rana with the Noida Super Kings needing 81 runs in 41 balls.
In an attempt to combat the ever-growing run-rate Nitish Rana became M.Sharim’s third scalp of the night, massively dampening Noida’s prospects at 123/4 in 15 overs. Following this, Atal Bihari Rai came back into the attack to dismiss Prashant Veer while Aditya Sharma (4) was run out to put the target beyond the Noida Super Kings. After an inconsequential contribution from Saurabh Kumar (21), Noida finished at 163/9 to lose the match by 26 runs.
The semifinal and final matches are streamed live on Jio Cinema and will be aired on the free-to-air channel (FTA) Sports 18 Khel.
Brief Scores: Kashi Rudras: 189/2 in 20 overs (Karan Sharma 105*, Shivam Bansal 56, Prince Yadav 17, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 2/25) vs Noida Super Kings: 163/9 in 20 overs (Almas Shaukat 58, Nitish Rana 42, Mohd Sharim 4/27, Prince Yadav 1/25, Atal Bihari Rai 1/34).
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