UPT20 2023: Meerut Mavericks trounce Lucknow Falcons to end league stage on a high

Kanpur, 13th September 2023: The Meerut Mavericks continued their impressive run in the ongoing UPT20 tournament at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur, securing yet another convincing victory. In an exhilarating match, they defeated the Lucknow Falcons by 91 runs. Opting to bat first, Meerut’s Madhav Kaushik (84*) maintained his remarkable form, playing a pivotal role in his team’s achievement of a formidable total of 193/8.

Their bowlers were equally outstanding in the second innings, with Yash Garg (3/9) Kuldeep Kumar (3/16), and Abhinav Tiwari (3/21) delivering an exceptional performance to wrap up the Lucknow Falcons for 102 runs. With this result, Meerut Mavericks finished the league phase of the competition with 15 points in 10 matches, furthermore the massive margin from the victory almost ensures that Meerut will finish on top of the table due to their strong net run rate. 

Electing to bat first, the Meerut Mavericks had an exceedingly lucrative powerplay. Though Parth Jain (1) perished in the very first over, Uvaish Ahmed (44) took the reins as he was joined by Madhav Kaushik (84*) to catapult the Meerut Mavericks to 80/0 by the end of six overs. Uvaish Ahmed’s party ended when he was caught in the deep off Nadeem’s delivery in the seventh over. Rinku Singh contributed a quick-fire knock of 24 runs before he was scalped by Shaurya Singh in the 12th over. 

Rohit Rajpal also failed to make much of an impact, dismissed by Zeeshan Ansari while Madhav Kaushik completed a crucial half-century in 35 balls to place the Meerut Mavericks at 154/4 in 15 overs. In the death overs, Yash Garg (3) ran himself out. While Zeeshan Ansari continued to impress as he picked up Aniket Seth (0), Yuvraj Yadav (0), and Ansh Dwivedi (0) in the 17th over. While the wickets tumbled around him, Madhav Kaushik powered through the innings undeterred, finishing with an unbeaten knock of 84 runs to ensure the Meerut Mavericks finished at 193/8. 

In response the Lucknow Falcons started aggressively but lost both openers in quick succession; Shaurya Singh (11) was dismissed by Kartik Tyagi and Harsh Tyagi (4) was dismissed by Kuldeep Kumar. Kuldeep delivered an enviable spell as he proceeded to scalp Aaradhya Yadav (3) and Sawan Singh (0) in consecutive balls in the fifth over. At the end of the powerplay, the Lucknow Falcons were struggling at 57/4.  Amidst the fall of wickets, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi (22) was looking good, but he too was sent back to the pavilion in the seventh over, beaten by the ambidextrous spinner, Abhinav Tiwari.

The innings further unraveled when Ali Zafar (20) and Zeeshan Ansari (2) became Tiwari’s second and third victims of the night, leaving the score at 97/7 in 12.2 overs. Satya Prakash (24) battled bravely, however, Yash Garg was brought back into the attack, and he found immediate success through the wickets of Vikas Singh (1), Vineet Dubey (3), and Puneet Chaudhary (0) to bundle the Lucknow Falcons for 102 in 15.2 overs, securing a 91-run victory for Meerut Mavericks. 

Brief Scores  

Meerut Mavericks win by 91 runs 

Meerut Mavericks: 193/8 in 20 overs (Madhav Kaushik – 84* runs in 52 balls, Uvaish Ahmed – 44 runs in 24 balls, Rinku Singh – 24 runs in 13 balls, Zeeshan Ansari – 4/27, Nadeem – 1/25, Shaurya Singh –1/26) 

Lucknow Falcons: 102/10 in 15.2 overs (Satya Prakash – 24 runs in 28 balls, Aanjaneya Suryavanshi – 22 runs in 13 balls, Ali Zafar – 20 runs in 17 balls, Yash Garg –3/9, Kuldeep Kumar – 3/16, Abhinav Tiwari – 3/21)