The Kanpur Superstars pulled off a heist as they defeated the Meerut Mavericks with seven wickets and six balls to spare. Kanpur’s Sameer Rizvi (122) was the chief architect of the successful run chase, scoring 122-runs in 59 deliveries to register the second century of the match. Rizvi was well supported by Ansh Yadav (48) and captain Akshdeep Nath (25*). Earlier in the day Swastik Chikara also scored a brilliant century for Meerut that was rendered futile by the firepower of the Kanpur Superstars.
Invited to bat, the Meerut Mavericks enjoyed a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay, with one remarkable over where Swastik Chikara (100) dispatched Ankit Rajpoot for four consecutive boundaries. However, their opening partnership came to an end when Shoaib Siddiqui (29) was caught behind Prashant Chaudhary’s bowling in the sixth over. As the powerplay concluded, Meerut had amassed 58 runs for the loss of one wicket. Chikara went on to bring up his half century 28 deliveries. Soon after, the in-form captain, Madhav Kaushik (12) departed at the hand of Aquib Khan. Chikara continued undeterred, raining boundaries as he was joined by the dangerous Rinku Singh (42). At the end of 15 overs, Meerut was in a commanding position at 144/2. Rinku Singh went on yet another rampage with a quick-fire knock of 42 runs in only 24 balls, before he was bowled by Ankit Rajpoot in the penultimate over. Chikara remained unbeaten and etched his name in history by becoming the first centurion of the tournament in the final over, achieving this remarkable feat in 57 deliveries. Divyanshi Joshi (17*) was eager to contribute and concluded the innings with two consecutive sixes and a four, propelling the Meerut Mavericks to a formidable total of 204/3 in their allotted 20 overs.
In response, Kanpur Superstars had an early setback as they lost opener Rahul Rajpal (0) to Kunal Yadav, before he could trouble the scorers. While Kanpur moved behind the required run rate, they recovered significantly well on the backs of Ansh Yadav (48) and Sameer Rizvi (122) to finish the powerplay at 47/1. While Ansh Yadav went on to play the supporting role, Sameer Rizvi was in destructive form, amassing runs across all areas of the ground. The pair forged a mammoth 129-run partnership to bring Kanpur to 130-2 in 13.3 overs when Ansh Yadav was scalped by Vaibhav Chaudhary. With Akshdeep Nath (25*) coming to the crease, Sameer Rizvi moved towards the second century of the day, reaching the milestone in just 50 balls. With Kanpur Superstars needing 41 runs off the final four overs, the Superstars extracted 20 runs of the 17th over with Akshdeep Nath scoring 18 of them. Sameer Rizvi fell in the 19th over to Akshay Sain, but the job was completed as Kanpur completed a magnificent run chase, finishing at 210/3 to win their first game of the tournament with seven wickets and six balls to spare.
Brief Scores
Kanpur Superstars win with seven wickets and six balls remaining
Meerut Mavericks – 204/3 in 20 overs (Swastik Chikara – 100* runs off 57 balls, Rinku Singh – 42 runs off 24 balls, Divyansh Joshi – 17* off 4 balls, Aquib Khan – 1/25, Prashant Choudhary – 1/42, Ankit Rajpoot – 1/50)
Kanpur Superstars – 210/3 in 19 overs (Sameer Rizvi – 122 of 59 deliveries, Ansh Yadav – 48 runs off 39 balls, Akshdeep Nath – 25 runs off 14 balls, Vaibhav Chaudhary – 1/37, Kunal Yadav – 1/38, Akshay Sain – 1/16)
